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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 


WALLACE W. ELLIOTT & CO, PUBLISHERS 


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* 

INTRODUCTORY. 


WORDS OF EXPLANATION. 

We do not expect to present our readers with accounts of 
strange and novel events. We are dealing with the facts of 
history. These are made up from the statements and records 
of others. There can be no originality in the work of the his¬ 
torian. Hence our task was to endeavor to gather together all 
the chief historical facts relative to the county, and arrange 
them for handy reference for use of residents, as well as furnish 
valuable information to the traveler, the tourist, or the emi¬ 
grant who is seeking a location. 

This work contains a history of the county 7 , beginning on 
page 81, and embraced under the following general divisions, 
which are subdivided, as shown in the table of contents:— 

1. First Settlements in the County Limits. 

2. Indian Difficulties, Wars, Treaties, and Reservations. 

3. County Prior to its Organization. 

4. Organization of the County 7 Government. 

5. Geographical Features of the County. 

6. Geological Formations and Mountains. 

7. Rivers, Lakes, and Water Supply 7 . 

8. Irrigation and its Results. 

9. Soil and its Many 7 Productions. 

10. Timber, Resources, and Mills. 

11. General Resources and Industries of the County 7 . 

12. Rapid Increase in Population and Wealth. 

13. Botany of the County. 

14. Grand and Sublime Scenery 7 of the Sierra. 

15. Descriptions of Towns and Villages. 

16. Climate and its Many Advantages to Residents. 

17. Lives of Pioneer Settlers of this Region. 

18. Mineral Resources and Mines. 

19. Secret Societies, Churches and other Organizations. 

20. Sketches of Prominent Citizens of the County. 

21. Public and Private Schools and their Progress. 

22. List of County Officers and Election Returns. 

The alphabetical index will be found an invaluable guide, 
and refers to more than 400 subdivisions of the above subjects. 

We have added to the work a State History 7 , which has been 
kept separate from the local history. It occupies the first eighty 
pages, and will be found an accurate review of the chief events of 
interest occurring in the State, as well as their connection with 
local matters difficult to segregate. 

The book is fully illustrated, as may be seen at a glance, 
with views of many of the principal residences, ranches, or¬ 
chards, public buildings, and business houses. Portraits of 
many of the pioneers appear, as well as of county officers and 
prominent citizens. We have also inserted some 40 wood en¬ 


gravings and lithographs of scenes in the mountains, such as 
Tulare Lake, Artesian wells, etc. 

In preparing this work every source of information has been 
sought to render it a complete and authentic history—such as 
the files of newspapers and magazines, all books and publi¬ 
cations that could be obtained relating to the subject, old 
letters and diaries, scrap-books, and interviews with all who 
could or would relate the incidents of the past, and the facts of 
the present—all has been gleaned that seemed possible, and from 
these, and with such aid as others have kindly given, we have 
compiled and written the history. 

Our thanks are due to all the county officials who have aided 
us in every way 7 in securing information from public documents. 

The Delta, Times, and Register gave us free use of articles 
from their journals. The Times loaned us a file of that paper 
for a series of years, which we found invaluable. 

The Californian and Gazette gave us much valuable infor¬ 
mation, and extensive use was made of articles from the Cali¬ 
fornian. So far as possible, we have given credit for the arti¬ 
cles used. 

It has been the policy of men in all ages to preserve by tra¬ 
dition, inscription, monument, or manuscript, the memory of in¬ 
dividuals and events associated with the settlement of a State 
or country. We have therefore given considerable space to the 
biographical department, which contains very much of interest. 
A few y 7 ears from now it will be oftenest perused, for peo¬ 
ple delight to read of the pioneers of a country 7 and of their 
trials. Each sketch contains some incidents of pioneer life, or 
some facts relative to the county, its soil, mode of cultivation, 
variety of crops, manner of harvesting, average production of 
different localities, and similar information not easily separated 
from the personal narrative, but can be found by 7 the sub-head¬ 
ings. 

Many old settlers, whose years of honorable toil have trans¬ 
formed the wild lands into harvest-laden fields, have placed 
us under obligations for historical and biographical incidents 
connected with the early history 7 of the county. 

We expect criticism. All that the publishers ask is that it 
be done in charity, after considering all the obstacles and hin¬ 
drances involved in a work of this magnitude. Few persons 
without actual experience can comprehend the care and pains 
necessary to complete a book of this description. 

Our thanks are due to the citizens of the county for the cor¬ 
dial good feeling manifested toward our enterprise, having re¬ 
ceived from them that aid and support which can only be ex¬ 
pected among prosperous and intelligent people. 

The Publishers. 












































































. 
































































































































































I 


TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


INDEX TO STATE HISTORY- 


HISTORY. 


American Flag Raised.58 

Active Life of Pioneers.52 

Alcaldes of Early Times.60, 97 

Arrest of Citizens. 40 

Alcalde Colton Visits the Mines. 67 

Altitude of Prominent Points. 74 

Building Mission Churches. 27 

Blackburn as Judge.51 

California Alps. 73 

Capture of Settlers.41 

Census of the State. SO 

Coast Survey.20 

Capture of Monterey. 58 

Dairying in Old Times. 32 

Description of Natives.23 

Discovery of Gold at Coloma.63 

Description and Decline of the Missions 26 

Donner Party. 60 

Educational Advantages. 77 

Emigrant* Arrive.66 

Early Description of California.44 


I Early Colonization Party. 30 

| Evacuation of Fort Ross. 36 

First Lumber Mill. 36 

First Grindstones Made.50 

First Grist-mills. 34 

First Pioneer Squatter.34 

i First Ferry Boat.38 

First Schooner Built in California.... 3S 

First Campers on Tulare Lake. 39 

First Historian of California.39 

First Orchard. 34 

First Windmill. 35 

1 First Tannery. 35 

First Protestant Worship.50 

First American Governor. 60 

. First Mission Founded. 23 

First Indian Baptism. 28 

First Discovery of Gold . 66 

First State Constitution. 69 

First School Teachers in the State... 77 

' First California Legislature.. 69 

Grist-mills Constructed. 34 

I Golden Era Dawns. 67 


| Governors of California. 72 

Grand Rush for the Gold Mines. 66 

Hunters and Trappers of 1832. 39 

Hudson Ray Company.39 

Independence Declared.40 

Industries of Early Times. 31 

Immense Bands of Cattle. 25 

Ide’s Proclamation.57 

Laws for the Colonies.27 

Making the Bear Flag. 55 

Miners' Laws. 66 

Monterey Bay. 23 

Missions Established.25 

Object of the Missions. 24 

Organization of the State. 69 

Ownership of Land. 75 

Pioneers of California.46, 4S, 49, 52, 62 

Plow of Early Settlers. 31 

Pioneer Merchants. 8S 

Russians near Fort Ross.35 

Review of the Missions. 29 

Settlers Ordered to Leave California. 40 
I Second Exploring Expedition. 21 


INDEX TO TULARE COUNTY HISTORY. 


HISTORY. 


Artesian Belt. Ill 

Amount and Kind of Land. 104 

Acts of First Officers. 91 

Alkali Soils. 98 

Artesian Boom Started.Ill 

Artesian Wells Described. 112 

Artesian Wells of Tulare County .. 113 

Advantages of Artesian Wells. 113 

Amount of Water Available. 114 

Animal Life of Sierras. 125 

Alliance Messenger. 165 

Advantages of Railroads. 194 

Biographical Notices. 17S 

Botany of thi County. 137 

Beautiful Valley. 119 

Big Trees of Tulare.122, 156 

Beautiful Lakes. 135 

Beautiful Flowers. 139 

Berries, Roots, etc. 142 

Birds of Tulare. 155 

Bank of Visalia. 168 

Canals of Mussel Slough.. 108 

Court House Erected. 102 

Culture of Fruit Trees. 141 

Climate of Tulare. 99 

Chief Crops Raised. 99 

Court House Bonds Issued. 103 

Cost of Artesian Wells. 114 

Climate of the County. 143 

Cross Creek Station . 174 

Camp Badger. 175 

Description of Villages... . 165 

Dedication of Court House. 103 

Description of Principal Ranches... 105 

Diagram of Artesian Well.112 

Diagram of Rain-fall. 148 

Delta, Visalia. 168 

Dillon’s Mills. 175 

Effect of Hot Valleys. 147 

Early Times and Troubles. 101 

Effects of Irrigation. 109 

Explorations of Tulare Lake . 153 

Electrical Action of Wind. 147 

Economical Botany. 140 

Effects of North Winds. 147 

Election Returns. 192 

First Impression of Valley. 190 


Fremont Visits Valley. 82 

Fremont Enters the Pass. 84 

Fremont Cavalcade. . 85 

Few Indians. 95 

Foot Hill Lands. 100 

Fight over Court House. 103 

Forest and Timber Trees. 137 

Farmersville and Surroundings. 175 

Frazier Post-office. 175 

First Americans in Valley. 81 

“ Hunters Tulare Lake. 81 

“ County Seat. 101 

“ Artesian Well.. Ill 

“ Saw-mill. 156 

“ Quartz-mill. 160 

“ Permanent Settlers. 82 

“ Settlers in Tulare County.... 87 

“ Ferry on King’s River. 87 

“ Court House and Jail. 101 

“ Schools of Tulare. 198 

Great Interior Basin. 85 

Great Variety of Soils. 100 

Grand Scenery Described. 115 

Grand Canons of Sierra. 135 

Grangeville and Surroundings. 174 

Goshen Station . 174 

Greenback and Vicinity. 175 

Hanford Described. 169 

Height of Mountains. 135 

High-water Periods. 106 

Hog Wallow Land. 98 

Hemitite Basin. 12S 

Hot Springs. 172 

How Lumber is Marketed. 157 

Heat and Color of Sun. 133 

Hunters of Tulare Lake. 81 

Height of Various Places. 194 

Immense Territory. 87 

Inducements to Settlers. 97 

Irrigation in Tulare. 107 

Irrigation from Tule River. 110 

Islands of Tulare Lake. 155 

Irrigation from Kaweah River. 110 

Influence of Trade Winds. 147 

Indians of Tulare. 83 

Indian Race. 91 

Indians of King’s River. 95 

Indian Sweat-house. 92 

Indian Character. 92 


Indians, Number of. 96 

Indian Reservation. 172 

Indians of Kern River. 95 

Kaweah River. 107 

King’s River Named.... . 83 

Kern River Gold Excitement. 88 

King's River Indians. 95 

Kern River and Lakes.105, 97 

King's River Described. 106 

Kern River Canon. 127 

Kaweah Buttes. 131 

Location of Tulare County. 104 

Lakes of Tulare County. 151 

Lack of Irrigation. 108 

Living Glaciers. 120 

Lumber Business . 156 

Lemoore Village.170 

Lakeside Described. 174 

Mountains of Tulare...,.124 

Mussel Slough Irrigation. 108 

Monarch Lakes. 121 

Mountain Lumber Flume. 123 

Mount Whitney. 129 

Mines of Tulare County. 160 

Mussel Slough Troubles. 195 

Manzanita Post-office . 175 

Natural Water Reservoirs. 146 

Noted Early Settlers.. 89 

Names of Irrigating Canals. 10S 

Natural Bridges. 121 

Naming the Mountains. 131 

Native Fruits. 141 

Newspapers of Tulare City. 165 

Newspapers of Visalia . 168 

Organization of Tulare County. 101 

Oak Forests. 137 

Plano and Surroundings .. 171 

Pacific Hotel. 165 

Progress of Tulare County. 162 

Principal Crops Raised. 99 

Pioneer of 1837. SS 

Progress of the County. 101 

Paradise Valley. 123 

Porterville and Surroundings. 174 

Rainy Season. 148 

Rich and Productive Soil. 99 

Results of Climate. 99 

Rain-fall Table.145, 148 

Roads Constructed.159 


Spanish Ox-cart.33 

Strange Meeting on the Merced. 37 

San Francisco and Bay. 25 

Sonoma Mission. 29 

Sale of the Missions. 31 

San Joaquin Valley.31, 74 

Specimen Proclamation.42 

San Joaquin Ranch. 43 

Sutter’s Fort Located.46 

Strange Dream.62 

Sunday in San Francisco. 67 

State House, San Jostf.. 71 

Table of California Missions.25 

“ Population of Missions. 26 

“ Mission Indians.28 

“ Missions in 1834 and 1842.. 30 

“ Disposition of Missions. ... 32 

“ Agricultural Products. 75 

“ Altitude of Mountains. 74 

Threshing Scene of Early Times. 32 

Tragic Fate of Donner Party. 62 

| Treaty of Peace Signed. 59 

Truckee, the Indian Guide. 49 


Rare Collection. 153 

Reasons for Agreeable Climate. 143 

Railroads of Tulare County. 193 

Scenery of Tulare. 115 

Scene of Beauty. 85 

Stages of Old Times. 193 

Savage, James D. 89 

Soil and Productions.\. 96 

Size of Tulare County. 104 

Sierra Nevadas.115, 144 

Soda Springs. ..172, 175 

Schools of Tulare County. 197 

Southern Pacific Railroad . 193 

Settlers’ Grand League. 195 

Supervisor Districts. 191 

Tulare Lake.150, 194 

Tule River.106, 110 

Tulare and Kern Valley. 97 

Trough of the Valley. 85 

Table Showing Acres Cultivated ... 108 

Trip to Mount Whitney. 134 

Temperature Table.145, 150 

Timber Supply. 156 

Tulare City Described. 164 

I Tulare Register . 165 

j Times of Visalia. 16S 

Tipton and Surroundings. 174 

- Terrapins of Tulare Lake. 157 

Valuation of Property. 162 

Visalia Twenty Years Ago. 163 

| Valley in Native State. 86 

| Valley of Tulare and Kern. 97 

Visit to Big Trees. 122 

Visit to Paradise Valley. 126 

Visalia Described. 167 

j Visalia Railroad. 193 

Votes at Election of 1882. . 192 

Wild Horses. 83 

Washington Grove. 119 

Wales’ Trip to Mount Whitney.... 134 

Wright’s Description of Valley. 128 

Wright’s Trip on Tulare Lake. 150 

Wild Animals. 155 

Waste of Timber. 156 

Water Works of Hanford. 168 

Woodville.174 

Wa'cr Witch Schooner. 153 

Water Supply. 86 

| Yokohl River and Post-office. 175 


























































































































































































































































































TABLE OF CONTENTS. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Ayers, A. S. 44 

Artesian Well. 80 

Altimont. 190 


. 114 

. 48 

. 22 

Frontispiece 

. SS 

. 00 

. 82 

. 140 

. 164 

. 100 

. 1S2 


Fisher, James. 72 

Foster, W. W. 190 

Giddings, E. 04 

Gray, H. P. 100 

Gibbons, Deming. ISO 

Grand Canon. 150 

Hays, J. C. 150 

Hammond, William H. 170 

Johnson, Seymour. 1G4 

Jefferds, F. G. 186 

Julian Fruit Farm. 32 

Mills, R. 172 

Manasse, James. 24 

Mickle, R. L. P. 60 

Mussel Slough Stock Farm. 52 

Mount Whitney. 146 

Neff, A. D. 48 

Newport, W. J. 28 

Oakland Ranch. 176 

Orange Orchard at Plano. 186 

Pioneer Store. 24 

Pacific Hotel_•. 22 

Pratt, L. A. S2 

Paddock, Oliver. 92 

Pennebaker, W. G. 182 

Pioneer Farm. 40 

Plano Views. 88 

Palace Ranch. 100 

Palace Saloon. 172 

Iihoads, Daniel . 160 

Railsback, C. 32 

Robinson, W. & J. 64 

Russell Bros... 8S 

Rice, G. F. 72 

Rodgers, Frank. 60 


Alpine Camp.... 
Burnett, M. M.. 
Cotton, A. T.... 

Court House. 

Church at Plano. 
Davidson, J. A.. 

Denny, J. E. 

Dusy, F. 

Edwards, E. J... 
Evergreen Farm.. 
Fulgham, John J 
Foster Bros. 


HISTORY. 

Agricultural Resources.206 

Agricultural Productions.209 

Alfalfa Culture.210 

Aztec Remains.215 

Agricultural Lands. 19 

Buena Vista Lake.209 

Bakersfield Described. 215 

Bank of Kern County.217 

Biographical Notices.220 

County Government Started.200 

Court House Constructed...202 

County Boundary Settlements.202 

Cotton Cultivation.210 

Coal Oil Deposits. 212 

CalienteStation. 214 

Californian, Kern County.217 

Canals for Irrigation.219 

County Seat Contest.201 

Descriptions of Villages.213 

Delano Gold Mines.212 

Elections in Kern County.223 

Extent of Irrigation. 219 

Early Mines. 199 

Efforts to Remove Court House.200 

Early Stock-raising. 207 

Effects of Irrigation on Soils. 219 

Fruit Crops. 209 

First Grand Jury.201 

First Deeds Recorded. 201 

First County Officers. 201 

First Tax Levy.200 

First Mining Operations. 199 

First Settlers on Kern Island. 199 

First Meeting of Supervisors. 200 

First Court House.200 


INDEX TO TULARE COUNTY HISTORY CONTINUED. 


Sanders, A. H. 56 

Spangler, Daniel. 40 

Shore, J. H. 28 

Scoggins, A. J. 52 

Simon, Jacob & Co . 24 

Silver Spray Falls. 140 

Thoustrup, Jul. 32 

Tulare Library Association. 164 

Thomson, William. 88 

Tome, Samuel. 104 

Thy arks, George. 60 

Tulare Lake. 80 

Tehipitee Valley. 150 

Wilson, O. L. 56 

Water Works of Tulare City. 22 

Willow Point Ranch. 96 

Washington Big Tree. 146 

Zumwalt, James B. 100 

PORTRAITS. 

Creighton, Thomas. 84 

Denny, J. E. 36 

Edwards, E. J. 36 

Gilroy, L. S4 

Gilliam, S. M. 108 

I Hammond, William H. 108 

Jordan, John F. 84 

Lightner, A. T. 202 

Loyd, J. W. 108 

McQuiddy, Thomas J. . 20 

Murphy, C. H.. 36 

Macpherson, A. B.202 

Martin, W. F. 36 

Osborn, W. T. 10S 

Pogue, J. W. C . 108 

Robinson, J. S. 20 

Rhoads, Daniel. 20 

Smith, Seth. S4 

Sutter, John A. 24 

Thornton, G. T. 20 

Tyler, William . 202 

Urton, J. S. 20 

Wright, J. W. A. 20 

Zumwalt, J. B. 100 

MAPS, CHARTS, ETC. 

Chart Showing Wind Currents. 6 

Chart Showing Size of Counties.... 76 

Map of the State. 6 

Map of Tulare County. S 

Map of Kern County. 198 


Chart Showing Valley. 123 

Chart Showing Depth of Well.112 

Chart Showing Canals. 19S 

WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 

Alcalde Colton and the Miner. 67 

Blue Canon Falls. 121 

Big Tree... 133 

Beautiful Cascades. 124 

Felling Big Tree. 122 

Grand Scenery. 115 

< U’ist-mills of Early Settlers. 35 

Horned Toad . 117 

Ionian Sweat House. 92 

Kern River Canon Scene. 127 

King of the Mountains. 126 

Monterey in 1846. 33 

Mount Whitney. ... 129 

Mounts Abert, Kaweah, etc. 131 

Native Viewing Scenery. 125 

Natural Bridge. 118 

Plow of the Native Californians.... 31 

Riding through Fallen Tree. 119 

Scene in the Sierras. .. 136 

Shagoopah Falls. 135 

Sierras as Seen from Hanford. 169 

Sierra Waterfall. 120 

San Juan Mission Buildings. 27 

Sonoma Mission Buildings. 29 

Spanish Ox-cart. 33 

San Joaquin River by Moonlight... 43 

Sutter’s Mill. 63 

State House, San Jose, 1849. 71 

Stat“ Capitol. 221 

Sierra Canon. .. . . 116 

Twin Falls. 130 

“Twin Sisters’’. 135 

Visitors in the Sierras. 128 

BIOGRAPHY. 

NAME. POST-OFFICE. PAGE. 

Ayers, A. S.Grangeville 181 

Burnett, Madison M. .. .Tulare City 1S2 

Buckland, Geo. C.Tulare City 165 

Baker, J. T.Hanford 170 

Brown & Irwin .Hanford 170 

Cotton, A. T.Tulare City 166 

Creighton, Thomas P.Visalia 177 

Denny, J. E.Visalia 177 

Dewitt & Richardson... Tulare City 165 

Foster, W. W.Grangeville 190 


NAME. 


POST-OFFICE. PAGE. 

171 
177 


Fox & Sweetland. ... .Lemoore 

Giddings, E.Lemoore 

Gilroy, L.Visalia 177 

Gray, H. P.Lemoore 186 

Gilliam, S. M.Porterville 182 

Gibbons, Deming.Plano 173 

Hyde, J. D.Visalia 104 

[ Jordan, John F.Visalia 176 

I Johnson, Seymour.Tulare City 164 

Jefferds, F. G.Farmersville 184 

Key, Brooks.Tulare City 165 

Loyd, J. W .Plano 188 

| Lindsey, Tipton.Visalia 104, 1S7 

Mills, R..Hanford 170 

Manasse, James.Hanford 170 

Murphy, C. H.Visalia 176 

Madden, D. W.Tulare City 165 

McQuiddy, Thomas J.Hanford 1S7 

Mart n, W. F.Grangeville 177 

Mickle, R. L. Porter.Hanford 190 

Malone, J. R.Hanford 170 

Neff, A. D.Tulare City 164 

Osborne, W. T.Camp Badger 176 

Pratt, L. A.Tulare City 164 

Paddock, Oliver.Hanford 181 

Pogue, J. W. C.Visalia 177 

Pennebaker, W. G.Farmersville 183 

Rhoads, Daniel.Lemoore 180 

Robinson, W. & J.Hanford 168 

Robinson, J. S.Grangeville 185 

Russell Bros.Plano 171 

Ric", G. F.Visalia 179 

Simon, Jacob & Co.Hanford 170 

Sanders, A. H.Hanford 179 

Smith, Seth .Visalia 176 

Spangler, Daniel .Hanford 191 

Shore, J. H... .Hanford 189 

Scoggins, A. J.Lemoore 

Sharp & Co.Hanford 170 

Stevens & Co. .Visalia 168 

Savage, J. D.Visalia 90 

Tulare Library Assoc'n. .Tulare City 164 

Thomson, William.Plano 171 

Tome, Samuel.Hanford 1S2 

Thornton, G. T.Hanford 191 

Thyarks, George.Hanford 170 

Urton, John S.Hanford 184 

Wright, J. W. A.Hanford 1S9 

Young, J. W.Hanford 190 

Zumwalt, James B.Tulare City 166 


INDEX TO KERN COUNTY. 


First Trial Jury...201 

First Assessment Roll. 201 

First Irrigating Canals.219 

First Oil Well .214 

First Farming in Kern. 199 

Great Kern Valley. 19 

Geographical Features. 202 

Glennville Described. 214 

Gazette, Kern County.217 

Havilah, the Old County Seat. 213 

Increase in Ten Years. 208 

Indian Corn Produced.208 

Irrigation from Kern River.218 

Kern County Organized. 200 

Kern Island.203 

Kern River.204, 20 

Kern Lake. 209 

Kern ville Mines. 211 

Kern ville Described.213 

Kernville Hotel.213 

Kern Valley Bank.217 

Large Ranches.203 

“Loop” (The). 215 

List of Canals. 219 

Mines of Kern County.211, 199 

Means of Communication.210 

Mountain Ranges. 20 

Newspapers of Bakersfield. 217 

Organization of Kern County. 199 

Perilous Passage of Kern River. 205 

Progress for Ten Years.208 

Petroleum Deposits. 212 

Population of Kern County.20S 

Rivers and Streams. 206 

Remains of Aztecs. 215 

Size of Kern County. 20 


Sage-brush Lands. 203 

Small Empires. 203 

Stock Protection Society. 206 

Sumner Village... 214 

Tejon Pass. 206 

Tehachepi. 214 

Temperance Banner, Bakersfield.... 217 

Table, Showing Canals. 219 

Tehachepi Valley. 20 

Vote on County Seat Removal. 201 

Valley in Native State. 206 

Views in Kernville. 213 

Various Plans for Irrigation. 218 

Water Supply of Kern. 218 

Walker’s Pass. 202 

Wheat Crop. 208 

Wonderful Growth. 210 

Walker Valley. 20 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Crocker, J. C.210 

Cook, William. 68 

Californian Office. 194 

Dumble, E. H. 214 

Evans. R. H. 68 

Fish, H. H. 194 

Godey, Alexis. 112 

Home Ranch. 210 

Jewett, S. 206 

Kinne, Geo. 0. 112 

Kernville House. 6S 

Kernville Brewery. 6S 

Lightner, A. T. (portrait). 202 

Maude, A. C., Residence. 206 

Maude, A. C., Office. 94 

Mattson, O. 0. 194 


McPherson, A. B. (portrait). 202 

Menzies, D. M. 76 

Niederaur, J. 76 

Petersen, N. P. 6S 

Tracy, F. A. 214 

Tyler, William (portrait). 202 

Union Stables... 194 

Views in Bakersfield. 76 

Wear, Geo. W. 76 

BIOGRAPHY. 

NAME. POST-OFFICE. PAGE. 

Baker, Thomas.Bakersfield 216 

Borgvvardt& McCord.. ..Bakersfield 217 

Beal, E. F.....Bakersfield 205 

Crocker, J. C.... .Bakersfield 220 

Cook, William.Kernville 213 

Chittenden Bros.Sumner 214 

Dumble, E. H.Bakersfield 222 

Drury, J. S...Bakersfield 217 

Evans, R. H.Kernville 213 

Fish, H. H.Bakersfield 217 

Fay, Alvin.Kernville 213 

Godey, Alexis.Bakersfield 222, 82 

Galtes, Paul.Bakersfield 217 

Jewett, S.Bakersfield 220 

Kinne, George O.. .Bakersfield 222 

Lightner, A. T.Bakersfield 221 

Maude, A. C.Bakersfield 217 

McPherson, A. B.Bakersfield 221 

Miller, E. G-.Bakersfield 217 

Niederaur, J.Bakersfield 221, 217 

Petersen, N. P.Kernville 213 

Tyler, William.Bakersfield 221 

Walker, J. R.Bakersfield 203 

Wear, George W.Bakersfield 217 













































































































































































































































































































































HISTORY 


-OF- 


TULARE COUNTY, 



The Great Tulare Valley. 



Jp* 

ft.y 

iar climate, dry, warm, and decid. 


I'-Al T \V.-. i 


Tulare 
has its own 
independent 
water system 
its rivers and 
lakes with no 
visible outlet, 
and a pecul- 


edly semi-tropical. It is so far from the ocean, from which 
come the prevailing winds from the vast reaches of the Pacific, 
that when they reach it they are modified, and sweep over 
it in temperate and refreshing breezes. 


LOCATION OF TULARE COUNTY. 

Tulare County lies in the southern portion of California and 
in the great San .Joaquin Valley, about 200 miles from Stock- 
ton. and 250 miles from San Francisco. It is between 
the parallels of about 35® 50' and 36° 40' north latitude. It 


extends from the summit of the Sierras to the Coast Range 
Mountains, a distance of about 100 miles, and is about sixty- 
five miles in width, embracing a vast fertile valley of about 
60x80 miles in extent. 

Tulare County is situated in the heart of the greatest 
productive Valley of California, a little south of the center of 
the State. It is bounded on the north by Fresno County, on 
the south by Kern, east by Inyo, and west by Fresno and 
Monterey, Monterey being the only county between Tulare and 
the Pacific Ocean. 

A GREAT WATER RESERVOIR. 

If the Sierra were not clothed with immense forests, nearly 
the whole valley of the San Joaquin would be worthless. The 
forests hold back the melting snow. It desolves gradually. 

By means of the great firs and pines, the snow lasts all 
summer. The western slope of the Sierra is the great reser¬ 
voir of California. Not only does it supply all the mines on 
this slope, but it makes the cultivation of all the dry places 
possible, if ever a system of irrigation can be devised which is 
not too costly. It is evident that the present method of using 
water is attended with great waste. 

Nothing like half the arable land of Tulare County is irri¬ 
gated. The great reservoir of the Sierra holds water enough 
to irrigate all the plains. Yet the system of appropriating 
water is so wasteful that they never can be irrigated, save in 
patches here and there. 

The west side of the valley is a level plain with a great 
amount of good soil, but not well supplied with natural water 
courses. While the east side is abundant with ever-flowing 
rivers, having their sources high up in the snow-capped peaks 
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. 

The east side is watered by the Tule, Kaweah, and King’s; 
Rivers, and several minor streams which are sometimes swollen 
to the magnitude of rivers. 

In the western part of this county we also find Tulare Lake,, 
a body of clear, pure water, of about thirty-five miles in length 


























20 


HISTORY OF TULARE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. 


by twenty-two in width, abounding with fish and fowl. Two 
or three islands of considerable magnitude dot the lake, and are 
made profitable by raising stock on them. 

MUSSEL SLOUGH COUNTRY. 

Much has been said about the Mussel Slough country in the 
western portion of this county, but the “ half has not been 
told,” nor is it in the power of language to convey an idea of 
what thei’e exists. It must be seen to be appreciated. The 
fertility of the soil, salubrity of the climate, and its adaptability 
to a wonderful variety of productions are unequaled in the 
world. A considerable extent of country has been irrigated, and 
the productiveness of the irrigated lands far exceeded the expec¬ 
tations of all. Improvements of various kinds are being made 
in every direction. It will be but a short time until this section 
will be in a high state of cultivation and present an appearance 
of prosperity unequaled in the State. No such thing as fail¬ 
ure of crops is ever known, as King’s River always carries a 
vast amount of water. The rapid advancement made by the 
settlers in this portion of the county, together with their many 
public enterprises, demonstrates the fact that the desert can be 
made to blossom as the rose. 

CHIEF PRODUCTIONS. 

The staple products of the county thus far have been wheat, 
barley, oats, corn and alfalfa; while flax, rice, cotton, and to¬ 
bacco grow luxuriantly. 

Of the fruits the most common are, apple, peach, pear, plums, 
figs, apricots, and grapes; while enough oranges, lemons, limes' 
pomegranates, nectarines, almonds, quince, cherries, and berries 
of almost every name and variety have been raised to demon¬ 
strate the fact that they can be produced in great quantities 
and of a choice qualitjL Vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbage, 
peas, beans, and of almost every other name for which the 
appetite of man creates a demand, are raised in great abun 
dance. 

Many of the semi-tropical fruits, such as oranges, lemons, 
almonds, olives, etc., grow and flourish finely, and could be 
made very profitable by proper culture. The finest fruit of 
any kind grows in the foot-hills; also the earliest vegetables. 
The valleys farther back in the mountains are narrower and 
altogether different in climate as they approach the crest. 

EXTENT AND RESOURCES. 

The natural resources of the soil and climate make it a world 
in itself, to which a bright future looms up more radiant than 
any clime over which civilization has coursed its way. The 
distance from the plains to the crest of the mountains, values 
from thirty to six miles on the east side of the valley, the high¬ 
est peak being about 15,000 feet. Numerous streams course 
their -way westward from the mountains, their branches run¬ 
ning in almost every conceivable direction before entering the 
plains, forming almost numberless valleys and broken hills, 
varying in height as the distance in the mountain is penetrated. 




The valleys are large and more important nearer the plains, 
and are remarkably healthy, the climate being somewhat 
milder than in the broad valleys. They are susceptible of a 
high state of cultivation. 

The large extent, varied resources, and known capabilities of 
the lands of the valley, give assurance that at an early day it 
will become densely populated by a prosperous people. The 
cultivation of the soil will always be the principal industry, 
yet there are numei-ous opportunities for the establishment of 
such others as are required to make a community truly inde¬ 
pendent and self-sustaining. 

This valley is destined to eventually become one of the most 
prosperous and favored regions on . the continent. Its vast 
area, favorable climate, fertile soil, and varied mineral and 
agricultural resources, must necessarily attract the attention of 
the immigrant and capitalist, and they will unite to develop its 
latent wealth. Thus far the great work has been barely com¬ 
menced. 

Nearly every necessary or luxury required by man can be 
here produced, and the inhabitants of this valley will have all 
the advantages of a ready access to the principal markets of 
the world, either for the disposal of their surplus products, or 
for the purchase of necessary supplies. 

VALUABLE UNCULTIVATED LANDS. 

Immense tracts of overflowed land that might be reclaimed 
and made to produce extraordinary crops of wheat, or which 
could be devoted to the cultivation of other valuable prod¬ 
ucts, are as yet unimproved. Thousands of acres of virgin soil 
remain uncultivated, although capable of returning rich returns 
for the labor expended upon them. There is room for a much 
larger population, and no possibility that the labor market can 
be overstocked for years to come. Manufactories are required 
to utilize the various products that are now allowed to go to 
waste; canals are to be dug for irrigating the arid plains; 
railroads constructed to furnish cheaper transportation; mines 
and quarries are to be opened, that their products may be 
rendered available, and numerous new industries inaugurated 
in order that the resources of this vast region of country may 
be fully developed. 

Tulare County to-day stands pre-eminent among the coun¬ 
ties of California in the productions of her soil. The progress 
she has made within the last ten years has been marvelous. 
Its resources are great; its climate, for the most part, delight¬ 
ful ; its products are of the best; its people hospitable and 
magnanimous; its scenery beautiful; its plains fertile; its 
mountains rich in timber, stone, and precious metals. 

The Southern Pacific Railroad runs through the county 
from north to south, in about the center of the great product¬ 
ive valley, in such a manner as to split into two equal parts. 
Two branch roads run east and west from near the center of 
the best part of the county. 










ELLIOTT 8c CO. LITH. 421 WONT.ST. SF. 












A REVIEW OF THE EARLY HISTORY. 


21 


A GLANCE AT EARLY HISTORY. 

Before entering more fully upon the history of the county it 
would seem appropriate to take a glance at the early history of 
the State, and note a little of its progress during a short decade; 
including the first establishment, rise and decline of the mis¬ 
sions; the rapidity and grandeur of its wonderful rise and pro¬ 
gress; the extent of its home and foreign commerce; the dis¬ 
covery and astonishing produce of gold. No county history 
therefore could be complete unless it included some account of 
the circumstances which brought each county into existence, 
and from whence came the men who organized and set the 
machinery of State and local governments in operation. It 
would thus be well, then, that posterity should know something 
of the early history of the State as well as of their own immedi¬ 
ate neighborhood; and by placing these scenes upon record they 
will remain fresh in the minds of the people that otherwise, in 
the lapse of years, must gradually fade away. 

RAPID SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS. 

One hundred years ago—almost within the memory of men 
now living—but very little of California’s soil had been trodden 
by the foot of civilized man. Up to the discovery of gold in 
1848, it was an afar-off land, even to those on the western bor¬ 
der of civilization. School-boys then looked upon their maps 
and wondered if they might ever be permitted to traverse the 
“ unexplored region ” marked thereon. About that time, when 
Thomas H. Benton said the child was then born that would 
see a railroad connecting ocean with ocean, most people smiled 
and thought that the day-dream of the old man had somewhat 
unsettled his hitherto stalwart intellect. No dream of forty 
years ago, no matter how bright the colors that may have been 
placed before the imagination, ever pictured the California of 
to-day—our own, our loved California. 

PACIFIC OCEAN FIRST SEEN. 

1513.—The Pacific Ocean was given to the world by Vasco 
Nunez de Balboa, who looked down from the heights of Panama 
upon its placid bosom on the 25th day of September, 1513 
the same veai m w hich ^lexico was conquered by Hernando 
Cortez. To Balboa, therefore belongs the credit of first seeing 
the Pacific Ocean. He, however, supposed it to be the great 
Southern Ocean. In 1520, Fernando Magellan sailed through 
the straits that bear his name, and finding the waters so little dis¬ 
turbed by the storms, he was induced to give it the name of 
Pacific Ocean. 

DISCOVERY OF CALIFORNIA. 

1534.—Cortez fitted out two ships for discovery of the Pacific 
Coast. One was commanded by Becarra, who was murdered 
by his crew, led on by his own pilot Ortun, or Fortuno 
Zimenes. 

Zimenes afterward continued the voyage of discovery, and 


appears to have sailed westward across the gulf, and to have 
touched the peninsula of California. This was in the year 
1534. He therefore was the first discoverer of the country. 

DISCOVERY OF CAPE MENDOCINO. 

1542. —On the 27th of June, 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, 
who had been one of Cortez’s pilots, left Navidad, in Mexico, 
under instructions from Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of Spain, 
on a voyage of discovery. On the 5th of July he landed at 
Cape St. Lucas, in Lower California, and following the coast, 
he finally entered the delightful harbor of San Diego, in Upper 
California, on September 28th. This place he named San 
Miguel, which was afterwards changed by Viscaino to that 
which it now bears. 

1543. —He passed by the Golden Gate and reached latitude 
44° on the 10th of March, 1543. The cold became so intense 
that he headed his ship again for Navidad. Cabrillo landed at 
Cape Mendocino, which he called Cabo de Fort an as (Cape of 
Perils), from the dangers encountered in its vicinity. This was 
February 26, 1543. Whatever discoveries may have been 
made by this navigator, were followed by no practical results. 

SECOND EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 

1579.—The next expedition along the coast seems to have 
been that of the English buccaneer, Francis Drake, afterwards 
knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his success in capturing and 
destroying the -rich Spanish ships. There long existed a popu¬ 
lar belief that Drake sailed into the harbor of San Francisco, 
and that the bay was named for him ; but it is now well settled 
that the bay he entered was that of Tomales, on the coast of 
Marin County. This once bore the name San Francisco. 

This noted English voyager, Sir Francis Drake, sailed along 
the coast in 1579. It is said his Spanish pilot, Morera, left him 
in Oregon, and thence found his way overland to Mexico, a 
distance of 3,500 miles. The name of New Albion was 
given to the country by Drake, with the evident intention 
of securing it for the British crown. 

On the 22d of July, after repairing his ship and doubtless 
taking on board a goodly supply of fresh meat and water, Drake 
set sail for England, going by way of the Cape of Good Hope, 
and arriving in Plymouth November 3, 1580, having been gone 
about two years and ten months. He was the first Englishman 
who circumnavigated the globe, and was the first man who 
ever made the entire voyage in the same vessel. He was gra¬ 
ciously received by Queen Elizabeth, and knighted. She also 
gave orders for the preservation of his ship, the Golden Hind* 
that it might remain a monument to his own and his country’s 
glory. 

At the’ end of a century it had to be broken up, owing to 
decay. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was 
presented by Charles IT. to the Oxford University. 

Sir Francis Drake died on board ship, at Nombre de Dios, in 
the West Indies, January 28, 1595. 












22 


A REVIEW OE THE EARLY HISTORY. 


DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 

1579.—The following is a highly colored description of the 
natives, as given by Drake: The natives bringing the Admiral 
(Drake) a present of feathers and cauls of net-work, he enter¬ 
tained them so kindly and generously that they were extremely 
pleased, and soon afterwards they sent him a present of feathers 
and bags of tobacco. A number of them coming to deliver it, 
gathered themselves together at the top of a small hill, from 
the highest point of which one of them harangued the Admiral, 
whose tent was placed at the bottom. When the speech was 
ended, they laid down their arms and came down, offering their 
presents, at the same time returning what the Admiral had 
given them. The women remaining on the hill, tearing their 
hair and making dreadful howlings, the Admiral supposed them 
engaged in making sacrifices, and thereupon ordered divine 
service to be performed at his tent, at which these people 
attended with astonishment. 

The arrival of the English in California being soon known 
through the country, two persons in the character of ambassa¬ 
dors came to the Admiral and informed him, in the best manner 
they were able, that the King would visit him, if he might be 
assured of coming in safety. Being satisfied on this point, a 
numerous company soon appeared, in front of which was a very 
comely person, bearing a kind of sceptre, on which hung two 
crowns, and three chains of great length. The chains were of 
bones, and the crowns of net-work, curiously wrought with 
feathers of many colors. 

A MAJESTIC INDIAN KING. 

Next to the sceptre-bearer came the King, a handsome 
majestic person, surrounded by a number of tall men, dressed 
in skins, who were followed by the common people, who, to 
make the grander appearance, had painted their faces of vai’ious 
colors, and all of them, even the children, being loaded with 
presents. 

The men being drawn up in line of battle, the Admiral stood 
ready to receive the King within the fences of his tent. The 
company having halted at a distance, the sceptre-bearer made 
a speech, half an hour long, at the end of which he began sing¬ 
ing and dancing, in which he was followed by the King and all 
the people, who, continuing to sing and dance, came quite up 
to the tent; when sitting down, the King took off his crown of 
feathers, placed it on the Admiral’s head, and put on him the 
other ensigns of royalty; and it is said that he made him a 
solemn tender of his whole kingdom; all of which the Admiral 
accepted in the name of the Queen, his sovereign, in hopes that 
these proceedings might, one time or other, contribute to the 
advantage of England. 

ATTEMPT TO POSSESS THE COUNTRY. 

1602.—Then there is another silence conce nine 1 this region, 

O O J 

of twenty-four years, when Viscaino comes, exploring more 
carefully, and searching for harbors. 


It was not until 1602 that the Spaniards took any actual 
steps to possess and colonize the continent. In that year Don 
Sebastian Viscaino was dispatched by the Viceroy of Mexico, 
acting under the instructions of his royal master, King Phillip 
III., on a voyage of search, in three small vessels. He visited 
various points on the coast, among them San Diego. 

BAY OF MONTEREY FOUND AND NAMED. 

1602.—It is he who finds Monterey Bay. He gets there 
December 16, 1602. His object was to find a port where the 
ships coming from the Phillipine Islands to Acapulco, a trade 
which had then been established some thirty years, might put 
in, and provide themselves with wood, water, masts, and other 
things of absolute necessity. 

Viscaino gave the name of Monterey to that bay. On the 
next day after he anchored near the site of the present town of 
Monterey, religious worship was held “ under a large oak by 
the sea-side.” 

The description they give of the harbor says: “ Near the 
shore is an infinite number of very large pines, straight and 
smooth, fit for masts, and yards, likewise oaks of a prodigious 
size for building ships. Here likewise are rose trees, white 
thorns, firs, willows and poplars; large clear lakes, and fine pas¬ 
tures and arable lands.” 

Viscaino leaves on the 3d of January, 1603, and then follows 
a long silence of more than a hundred and sixty years, during 
which no record speaks of this region of country. 

FOUNDING OF FIRST MISSION. 

1763.—A great zeal for missions had sprung up, and then 
prevailed in Mexico for Christianizing the regions at the North. 
The glowing descriptions of the old navigators who touched 
here more than a hundred and fifty years before, were revived, 
and now came into existence a desire, both in Spain and 
Mexico, to enter into and possess the land. Two divisions of 
the expedition reached San Diego nearly at the same time. 
One by sea and the other by land, up the peninsula of Lower 
California. 

They were at San Diego together, and founded the first of the 
missions of Upper California on the 16th day of July, 1769. 
But their zeal was too great to allow them to wait at the 
southernmost border of the promised land. They set their faces 
northward. 

MONTEREY SEARCHED FOR AFTER 167 YEARS. 

1769.—They had read of Viscaino, and his glowing descrip¬ 
tion of the country around the bay he named “ Monterey.” 
They proposed to set out at once to find it by land. 

The expedition left San Diego July 16, 1769, and was com¬ 
posed of Governor Portala, Captain Revera, with twenty-seven 
soldiers with leathern jackets, and Lieutenant P. Fages, with 
seven volunteers of Catalonia, besides Engineer Constanzio, and 
fifteen Christian Indians, from Low r er California. 
















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EXPLORERS NAME THE RIVERS AND TREES. 


23 


Fathers Crespi and Gomez accompanied them for their spirit¬ 
ual consolation, and to keep a diary of their expedition. Owing 
to Father Crespi’s diary, the principal incidents of this first 
journey by land up this coast are known to us. They kept 
near the sea-shore most of the way. They were constantly 
passing rancherias of Indians, whom they greeted as well as 
they knew how, and they were not molested by them. It was 
late in September when they came in sight of the Bay' of Mon¬ 
terey', the very bay they were in search of, but they did not 
recognize it! 

Father Crespi and the Commandant ascended a hill and 
looked down upon it. 

MONTEREY BAY NOT RECOGNIZED. 

1769.—They recognized Point Pinos, and New Year’s Point 
as described by Cabrera, but they did not recognize the bay as 
Viscaino’s Bay of “ Monterey! ” It is certainly' very strange 
that they did not, but for some reason they did not seem to 
have thought of its being the very identical spot they were in 
search of. 

The description of it by r which they were guided, was of 
course one given by those coming into the bay by water - . It 
may not have been tietailed or definite, or suited to guide those 
seeking it by land. 

At any - rate, the soldiers explored Point Pinos on both sides, 
and yet never recognized the place. They searched from the 
11th of November to the 9th of December. 

They were all half of a mind to give up the search and go 
back. 

But the resolution to proceed still further prevailed, and so 
they'resumed their march. We trace them now step by step. 
They crossed the Salinas River. They passed several lagoons. 
They descended into the Pajaro Valley, and camped near the 
bank of the river. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES. 

Moreover, in this valley they met with an encampment of 
Indians, numbering, as they said, five hundred. 

The Indians had no notice of the arrival of strangers in their 
land, and were alarmed. Some took to their arms; some ran 
to and fro, shouting. The women fell to weeping bitterly. I 
Sargent Ortega alighted from his horse and approached them, 
making signs of peace. 

He picked up from the ground arrows and little flags which 
they had set, and they clapped their hands in signs of approba¬ 
tion. 

They' were asked for something to eat. The women hastened 
to their huts and began to pound seeds and make a kind of 
paste. 

But when the fathers returned to the same spot the next day, 
they found onlv smoking remains of the Indians’ camp, the 
Indians themselves having set fire to it and gone away. 


NAMES GIVEN TO RIVERS AND TREES. 

1769.—They' named the river “ Pajaro,” because they found 
here an immense bird killed, stuffed with hay, measuring nine 
feet and three inches from tip to tip of the wings spread out. 
Here, too, not far from the river, they made note of finding 
deer. 

They described the banks of the Pajaro River as they found 
them in the fall of 1769, thickly covered with trees. They' 
spoke particularly of the redwood, calling it “palo Colorado,” 
on account of its color. Father Crespi says the trees are very 
high, and thinks they resemble the cedar of Lebanon, save that 
the wood has no odor. The leaves, too, he says, are different, 
and the wood is very' brittle. 

They stopped near a lake where there was a great deal of 
pasture, and they' saw a number of cranes. They rested there 
three days, on account of the sick. 

On the 17th of October they moved on again, walking all the 
time through good land, at a distance of some three miles from 
the sea. 

At the end of that day’s journey, they came to the river 
known as San Lorenzo. They proposed to cross it, not far 
from the sea. They found the banks steep. They were thickly 
grown with a foi - est of willows, cotton-wood and sycamore, so 
thick that they had to cut their way through. 

The river was fifty-four feet wide at the point where they 
forded, and the water reached the belly'of their horses. “It 
was one of the largest rivers,” Father Crespi says, “ that we 
met with on our journey'.” 

“ We camped on the north side of the river, and we had a 
great deal of work to cut down trees to open a little passage for 
our beasts. Not far from the river we saw a fertile spot, where 
the grass was not burnt, and it was pleasure to see the pasture, 
and the variety of herbs and rose bushes of Castile. We did 
not see near the river, nor during our journey, any Indians.” 

The next day about eight o’clock in the morning they moved 
on again. 

“ After proceeding about five hundred steps,” Father Crespi 
says, “ we passed a large stream of running water which had 
its source among high hills, and passing through a table-land, 
furnishes ample facility for irrigation.” This creek they called 
“ Santa Cruz.” And so the little stream gave its name to the 
city'. 

Perhaps Justiniano Roxas* saw this first party of white men 
that ever visited this region. He must have been then about 
sixteen or seventeen years old. 

The company remained some sixteen day's near the Bay' of 

'Justiniano Roxas died at Santa Cruz, March 10, 1875, aged 123 years. His 
portrait and biography were inserted in Elliott’s History of Santa Cruz 
County. From that article we learn he was for years about as destitute of 
flesh as a skeleton. His skin was yellow, hard and full of creases, and looked 
like parchment. Age had taken all expression from his countenance. His 
eyes were nearly closed. He walked with a staff. His last years were spent 
in trying to keep warm. At night he spread his blanket by the hearth, with 
his head toward the fire. He would not use a bed. He was cared for by th« 
Sisters of Charity, aided by the county. He was baptized 4th of March, 1792 
by the record. 














24 


CONTINUED DISCOVERIES BY LAND AND SEA. 


Monterey. Long enough to get a very fair idea of the climate. 
The sky was clear and there was no fog. 

They pushed on northward until they discovered San Fran¬ 
cisco Bay and reached the Golden Gate itself. 

BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO FOUND AND NAMED. 

1769.—On the 1st of November, 1769, they sent a party to 
Point Reyes. On the 2d of November, several hunters of the 
expedition ascended the high mountains more towards the east; 
and, although we have no correct information as to the names 
of those hunters, it is certain that they were the first white in¬ 
habitants who saw the large arm of the sea known at present 
as the Bay of San Francisco. 

The portion that was seen by them was that which lies 
between the San Bruno mountains and the estuary or creek of 
San Antonio (Oakland). They discovered the bay, unless the 
honor is accorded to the exploring party that returned on the 
3d of November, who also had discovered the branch of the 
sea, by which they were prevented from reaching Point Reyes, 
and the primitive bay first called San Francisco. 

On the 4th of November the whole of the expedition saw the 
newly discovered bay, and they tried to go around it b\’ the 
south ; but not being able to do so, they returned to Monterey. 
And so, by the merest accident, they came upon the world- 
renowned Bay of San Francisco. 

Finding it a place answering every requirement he named 
it after San Francisco de Asis; and seven years later, June 27, 
1776, possession was taken of the spot and a presidio estab¬ 
lished, the mission being located on the site of the present 
church. 

MONTEREY BAY VISITED AGAIN BUT NOT RECOGNIZED. 

1769. —Towards the end of November, we find them tarrving 
around Monterey again, not even now knowing that they were 
looking on the very harbor they were in search of! They even 
think it possible that the harbor that Viscaifio found 166 
years before, and described in such glowing terms, may 
be filled with sand, and for that reason they cannot find 
it. They erect a large cross near Point Pinos and place 
a writing at the foot of it, describing their hardships and dis¬ 
appointments, in case the vessel called the San Jose should 
anchor in that vicinity, and any of those on board should dis¬ 
cover the cross and find the writing. 

Finally, after many hardships, on the 24th day of Januarv, 
1770, half dead with hunger, they arrive at San Diego, after 
an absence of six months. 

They have accomplished that long and exceedingly laborious 
journey; they have twice passed and looked upon the very bav 
they were in search of, not knowing it ! 

MONTEREY BAY FOUND AT LAST. 

1770. —The next time Monterey Bay was searched for it was 
found. It was in the same year, 1770, that two new expeditions 


were fitted out. The two parties set out from San Diego to 
find it, one by land, the other by water. They find the bay 
this time, reaching it very nearly together. 

On the 3d day of June, 1770, they take possession of the 
land in the name of the King of Spain. 

On the same day Father Junipero begins his mission by 
erecting a cross, hanging bells from a tree, and saying mass 
under the same venerable rock wh°re Viscaino’s party celebrated 
it in 1602, 168 years before. 

OBJECT OF THE MISSIONS. 

The missions were designed by the Mexican Catholics for the 
civilization and conversion of the Indians. The latter were in¬ 
structed in the mysteries of religion (so far as they could com¬ 
prehend them) and the arts of peace. Instruction of the sav¬ 
ages in agriculture and manufactures, as well as in prayers and 
elementary education, was the padre’s business. 

At first the Indians were exceedingly cautious about ap¬ 
proaching or connecting themselves with this new style of civ¬ 
ilization, but gradually their fears and superstitions were over¬ 
come, and they began to cluster about the fathers. Their old 
habits and manner of living were thrown off, and they con¬ 
tented themselves with the quiet life and somewhat laborious 
duties of the missions. 

INDIANS NOT EASILY CIVILIZED. 

The California Indian was anything but an easy subject for 
civilization. Knowledge he had none ; his religion and morals 
were of the crudest form, while all in all he was the most 
degraded of mortals. He lived without labor, and existed for 
naught save his ease and pleasure. In physique he was unpre¬ 
possessing; he was possessed of great endurance and strength; 
his features were unattractive, his hair in texture like the 
mane of a horse, and his complexion as dark as the Ethiop’s 
skin. 

His chief delight was the satisfying of his appetite and lust, 
while he lacked courage enough to be war-like, and was devoid 
of that spirit of independence usually the principal character¬ 
istic of his race. The best portion of his life w 7 as passed in 
sleeping and dancing, while in the temperate California cli¬ 
mate the fertile valle 3 7 s and hill-sides grew an abundance of 
edible seeds and wild fruits, which were garnered, and by them 
held in great store. 

Such means of existence being so easily obtained is, perhaps, 
a reason for the wonderful disinclination of Indians to perform 
any kind of labor. Indeed, what need was there that they 
should toil when nature had placed within their reach an un¬ 
limited supply of food ? 

MISSION RANCHOS SET APART. 

Besides the missions, presidios, castilos. and pueblos, it may 
be remarked that there were certain public farms, called 
ranchos, set apart for the use of the soldiers. They were gen- 






















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FOUNDING OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS. 


25 


erally four or five leagues distant from the presidios, and were 
under the control of the different commandants. Little use, 
however, seems to have been made of these farms, and they 
commonly were left in a state of nature, or afforded only 
grazing to the few cattle and horses belonging to the presidios. 

In the establishment of missions the three agencies brought 

o o 

to bear were the military, the civil, and the religious, being each 
represented by the presidio, or garrison ; the pueblo, the town 
or civic community; and the mission, the church, which 
played the most prominent part. 

TABLE OF THE UPPER CALIFORNIAN MISSIONS. 


NO. 

XAMB. 

DATS OP ESTAB¬ 
LISHMENT. 

i 

San Diego de Meala. 

July 16, 1769 

2 

San Carlos de Monterey . 

June 3, 1770 

3 

San Antonio de Padua. 

July 14, 1771 

4 

San Gabriel de l«s Temblores 

•ept’r 8,1771 

5 

San Luis Obisp*. 

Sep 1,1772 

6 

San Francisco (Dolores). .. 

Oct’r 9, 1770 

7 

San Juan Capistrano . 

Nov’r 1, 1776 

8 

Santa Clara. 

Jan’v 18, 1777 

9 

San Buenaventura. 

March 31, 1782 

10 

Santa Barba. . 

Dec’r 4, 1780 

11 

La Purissima Conception 

Dec’r 8, 1787 

12 

Santa Cruz. 

Aug’t 96, 1791 

13 

La Soledad. 

Oct’r 9, 1791 

14 

San Jose. 

June 11, 1797 

15 

San Juan Bautista. 

June *24, 1797 

16 

San Miguel . 

July 25, 1797 

17 

San Fernando Rey. 

Sept’r 8, 1797 

18 

San Luis Rey de Francis .. 

June 13, 1798 

19 

Santa Ir.ez. 

Sept’r 17, 1804 

20 

San Rafael. 

Dec’r 14, 1819 

21 

San Francisco de Solano. 

AugT 25, 1823 


LOCATION. 


Bay of San Diego. 

I Subsequently removed from Monterey 
| to the Carmel river. 

13 leagues fm San Miguel, Monterey co. 
/ Itancho La Merced, eleven nnies east- 
) crly from Los Angeles, soon re- 
) moved to present location, nine 
( miles cast of the city. 

At present tow n of San Luis Obispo. 

On San Francisco Bay. 

J About midway between Los Angeles 
( and San Diego. 

Where town of Santa Clara now stands. 
South-east of and near Santa Barbara. 
On the Santa Barbara channel. 

>>n the Santa Inez river. 

Where town of Santa Cruz now stands. 
On tho Salinas river, Monterey county. 
Where the city of San Jose now is. 

On the San Juan river, San Benito co. 
On the Salinas river, Monterey county. 
Twenty miles X. W. from Los .Angeles. 

( Thirteen and a half leagues from San 
f Diego. 

Twelve leagues from Santa Barbara. 
North of San Francisco Bay, Marin co. 
Sonoma, Sonoma county. 


SAN CARLOS DE MONTEREY ESTABLISHED* 

1770.—The third attempt to establish a settlement at Mon¬ 
terey proved successful, as heretofore noticed. The following 
extract from a letter of tho leader of the expedition to Father 
Francisco Palou, gives a graphic account of the ceremonies 
attending the formal founding of the Mission of San Carlos de 
Monterey, by Padre Junipero Serra, on that memorable day, 
June 3, 1770. 

“ On the 31st of May, 1770, by favor of God, after rather 
a painful voyage of a month and a half, the packet San An¬ 
tonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and anchored 
in this beautiful port of Monterey, which is unadulterated in 
any degree from what it was when visited by the expedition 
of Don Sebastian Viscaiho, in 1620. It gave me great conso¬ 
lation to find that the land expedition had arrived eight days 
before us, and that Father Crespi and all others were in good 
health. On the 3d of June, being the holy day of Pentecost, 
the whole of the officers of sea and land, and all the people, 
assembled on the bank at the foot of an oak, where we caused 
an altar to be erected, and the bells rang; we then chanted the 
veni Creator, blessed the water, erected and blessed a grand 
cross, hoisted the royal standard, and chanted the first mass 
that was ever performed in this place; we afterwards sung the 
Salve to Our Lady before an image of the illustrious Virgin, 
which occupied the altar; and at the same time preached a 
sermon, concluding the whole with a Te Beam. After this the 


officers took possession of the country in the name of the King, 
(Charles III.) our Lord, whom God preserve. We then all 
dined together in a shady place on the beach; the whole cere¬ 
mony being accompanied by many volleys and salutes by the 
troops and vessels.” 

THE MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO.* 

1771.—This mission was founded by Padre Junipero Serra, 
July 14, 1771, and is situated about twelve leagues south of 
Soledad, in Monterey County, on the border of an inland stream 
upon which it has conferred its name The buildings were 
inclosed in a square, 1,200 feet on each side, and walled 
with adobes. Its lands were forty-eight leagues in cir¬ 
cumference, including seven farms, with a convenient house and 
chapel attached to each. The stream was conducted in paved 
trenches twenty miles for purposes of irrigation; large crops 
rewarded the husbandry of the padres. In 1822 this mission 
owned 52,800 head of cattle, 1,800 tame horses, 3,000 mares 

f 

500 yoke of working oxen, 600 mules, 48,000 sheep, and 1,000 
swine. “The climate here is cold in winter and intensely hot 
in summer. This mission on its secularization fell into the 
hands of an administrator who neglected its farms, drove off its 
cattle, and left its poor Indians to starve .”—Walter Colton’s 
Three Years in California. 

The mission grapes were very sweet; wine and aguardiente 
were made from them in early days, and the grapes were 
brought to Monterey for sale. The vineyard and garden walls 
are now gone, and the cattle have destroyed the vines ; many 
of the buildings are down, and the tiles have been removed to 
roof houses on some of the adjoining ranches. The church is 
still in good repair. There was formerly a good grist-mill at 
the mission, but that also, like the mission, is a thing of the 
past. 

THE MISSION OF SOLEDAD. 

1791.—Mission Soledad was founded October 9, 1791, and is 
situated fifteen leagues southwest of Monterey on the left bank 
of the Salinas River, in a fertile plain known by the name of 
the “ Llano del Rey.” The priest was an indefatigable agri¬ 
culturist. To obviate the summer drought, he constructed, 
through the labor of his Indians, an aqueduct extending fifteen 
miles, by which he could water 20,000 acres. 

IMMENSE BANDS OF CATTLE. 

In 1826 the mission owned about 36,000 head of cattle, and 
a greater number of horses and mares than any other mission 
in the country. 

So great was the reproduction of these animals that they 
were not only given away, but also driven in bands into the 
Bay of Monterey, in order to preserve the pasturage for the 
cattle. It had about 70,000 sheep and 300 yoke of tame oxen. 

* An extended history of these missions will be found in the “History of 
Monterey County,’’ by Elliott & Co. 














































26 


DESCRIPTION OF THE FIRST MISSIONS, 


In 1819 the major-domo of this mission gathered 8,400 bushels 
of wheat from thirty-eight bushels sown. Its secularization has 
been followed by decay and ruin.— Walter Colton. 

The mission possessed a fine orchard of 1,000 trees, but very 
few were left in 1849. There was also a vineyard about six 
miles from the mission in a gorge of the mountains. 

MISSION SAN JUAN BAUTISTA.* 

1794.—This mission looms over a rich valley ten leagues 
from Monterey—founded 1794. Its lands swept the broad 
interval and adjacent hills. In 1820 it owned 43,870 head 
of cattle, 1,360 tame horses, 4,870 mares, colts and fillies. It 
had seven sheep farms, containing 69,530 sheep; while the In¬ 
dians attached to the mission drove 321 yoke of working oxen. 
Its store-house contained $75,000 in goods and $20,000 in 
specie. 

REIGN OF DESOLATION AT SAN JUAN. 

This mission was secularized in 1834; its cattle slaughtered 
for the hides and tallow, its sheep left to the wolves, its horses 
taken by the dandies, its Indians left to hunt acorns, while the 
wind sighs over the grave of its last padre.— Walter Colton. 

This melancholy picture is not too highly colored. Doubtless 
the secularization laws were intended to benefit the Indians of 
the mission, nor does it seem that they were conceived in a 
spirit of unfriendliness to the padres. 

HOW THE BUILDING MATERIAL WAS PREPARED. 

None of this building stone was found in the vicinity of San 
Juan Bautista, so that its church is built entirely of adobe 
(sun-dried brick) and ladrillo, a species of brick that was 
baked in a subterranean kiln. The adobe was made out of a 
species of soil, common to most parts of California. The ma¬ 
terial was mixed with straw, thoroughly kneaded by hand 
and foot, moulded into the desired dimensions, and afterwards 
spread upon the earth to dry in the sun, being turned twice in 
the process of drying, to prevent cracking. The regulation 
adobe was about thirty inches long by sixteen wide and four 
thick, and weighed fifty pounds. The bricks were made of 
clay, mixed and kneaded like the adobe, and baked in subter¬ 
ranean kilns, with a slow fire. These brick were twelve inches 
long by eight wide and two thick, and are wonderfully dura¬ 
ble, as may be seen in the mission church and corridor; the 
floors of which (being laid with this brick) are hardly abraded 
by the wear and tear of three-quarters of a century. 

DESCRIPTION OF MISSIONS. 

The missions were usually quadrilateral buildings, two stories 
high, inclosing a court-yard ornamented with fountains and 
trees. The whole consisting of the church, father’s apartments, 
store-houses, barracks, etc. The quadrilateral sides were each 
about 600 feet in length, one of which was partly occupied by 
the church. 

*An extended history of these missions will be found in the “ History of 
San Benito County,” by Elliott & Co. 


And so they began their work, surrounded by beautiful 
scenery, but in seclusion and loneliness. They lived under the 
shadow of the hills. The sun rose bright and the air was mild, 
as now, and the music of the surf, and the roar of the ocean in 
times of storm—these things must have been as familiar to 
them as they are now to us. 

But there must have been something of sublimity about 
them when all around was in a condition of nature, that we 
miss in our inoi'e artificial life. 

They go about their work. They get together the Indians 
as soon as possible, to communicate with them. They teach 
them some rude approach to the arts of civilized life. They 
teach the men to use tools, and the women to weave. 

TABLE SHOWING POPULATION OF THE MISSIONS IN YEAR 1802. 

MOSTLY CHRISTIANIZED INDIANS. 


DATE OF 

FOUNDING. 

NAME OF MISSION. 

• 

MALES. 

FEMALES. 

TOTAL* 

1769 

San Diego. 

San Luis Rey de Francia .... 

737 

822 

1559 

1798 

256 

276 

532 

1776 

San Juan Capistrano. 

502 

511 

1013 

1771 

San Gabriel. 

532 

515 

1047 

1797 

San Fernando. 

317 

297 

614 

1782 

San Buenaventura. 

436 

502 

938 

1786 

Santa Barbai’a. 

521 

572 

1093 

1787 

La Purissima Conception. 

457 

571 

1028 

1772 

San Luis Obispo. 

374 

325 

699 

1797 

San Miguel. 

309 

305 

614 

1791 

Soledad. 

296 

267 

563 

1771 

San Antonio de Padua. 

56S 

484 

1052 

1770 

San Carlos de Monterey. 

376 

312 

688 

1797 

San Juan Bautista. 

530 

428 

958 

1794 

Santa Cruz. 

238 

199 

437 

1777 

Santa Clara. 

736 

555 

1291 

1797 

San Jose. 

327 

295 

622 

1776 

San Francisco. 

433 

381 

814 

1804 

Santa Inez. 

• • • 


• • • 

1817 

San Rafael Archangel. 

t • • 


• • • 

1823 

San Francisco de Solano. 

Totals. 

7945 

7617 

• • • 

15562 


BUILDING MISSION CHURCHES. 


Time passes away and we find them with a great work on 
their hands. It is nothing less than the building of a church. 
We think that to be no small undertaking even now, with all 
our facilities. But it is not easy for us to imagine what it was 
to them, with nothing but hand labor; and that of a very 
rude sort. 

Fifteen years seems a long time to devote to the erection of 
a church, even when we consider the character of the laborers 
and the rude tools and appliances used in its construction. 

But they set about it. They make adobes. They cut down 
the trees. They hew out the timber. By some means they 
get it up to the spot. No small undertaking that as we can 
see now by examining those very beams, in what remains of 
those old churches. 

Nor did the hewing lack in skill and accuracy, as you can 















































DESCRIPTION OF THE MISSION CHURCHES. 


27 



also see, and the solid adobe walls, you cau measure them, and 
you will find them to be five feet thick. It took often several 
years to build a church. And so life at the mission began in 
earnest. Other buildings were erected as they came to be 
needed. 

MISSION DAILY LIFE. 

The daily routine at all the missions was very much alike 
and was about as follows:— 

They rose at sunrise and proceeded to the church, to attend 
morning prayers. Breakfast followed. Then the day’s work. 

Towards noon they returned to the mission and passed the 
time till two o’clock in the afternoon, between dinner and 
repose. 

After that hour they resumed work and continued it till 
about sunset. Then all betook themselves to the church for 
evening devotions, and then to supper. 

After supper came amusements till the hour for retiring. 

Their diet consisted of beef and mutton, with vegetables in 
the season. Wheaten cakes and puddings or porridge, called 
atole and pinole, formed a portion of the repast. 


Government Order No. 6, issued from Monterey July 20, 
1798, is “to cause the arrest of Jose Arriola, and send him, 
under guard, so that he be at this place during the coming 
Sunday, from there to go to Santa Barbara, there to comply 
with his promise he made a young woman of that place to 
marry her.” 

The records do not inform us whether Jose fulfilled his 
agreement with the young lady or not! 

Extract from a letter dated Monterey, June 3, 1799:— 

* * * “I send you by the wife of the pensioner, 

Josef Brabo, one piece of cotton goods and one ounce of sewing 


View of Mission Buildings at San Juan. 


The dress was, for the males, linen shirt, trousers, and a 
blanket. The women had each two undergarments a year, a 
gown and a blanket. 

What a dreamy secluded life it must have been, with com¬ 
munication with the outer world only at intervals. 

LAWS FOR THE COLONISTS. 

We make the following extracts from laws sent the colonists 
and bearing date Monterey, March 23, 1816:— 

“All persons must attend mass, and respond in a loud voice, 
and if any person should tail to do so, without good cause, they 
will be put in the stocks for three hours.” 

“Living in adultery, gaming and drunkenness will not be 
allowed, and he who commits such vices shall be punished. 

Another order required every colonist to possess “two yoke 
of oxen, two plows, two points or plowshares (see engraving 
of plow), two hoes for tilling the ground, and they must pro¬ 
vide themselves with six hens and one cock. 


silk. There are no combs, and I have no hope of receiving any 
for three years. Hermenegildo Sal, 

“ Military Governor.’' 

Just think of the colonists being without combs for three 
years! 

DESCRIPTION OF MISSION CONVERTS. 

Captain Beechey,in 1826, visited the missions, and says:— 

“If any of the captured Indians show a repugnance to con¬ 
version, it is the practice to imprison them for a few days, and 
then allow them to breathe a little fresh air in a walk around 
the missions, to observe the happy mode of life of their con 
verted countrymen; after which they are again shut up, and 
thus continue incarcerated until they declare their readiness to 
renounce the religion of their fathers.” 

“ In the aisles and passages of the church, zealous beadles of 
the converted race are stationed, armed with sundry weapons 
of potent influence in effecting silence and attention, and which 













































































































28 


DECLINE OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS. 


are not sparingly used on the refractory. These consist of 
sticks and whips, long goads, etc., and they are not idle in the 
hands of the officials.” 

“Sometimes they break their bonds and escape into their 
original haunts. When brought back to the mission he is 
always flogged and then has an iron clog attached to one of 
his legs, which has the effect of preventing his running away 
and marking him out in terrorem to others.” Notwithstand¬ 
ing this dark picture, it must not be imagined that life was 
one of much hardship, or that they even thought so. 

THE FIRST INDIAN BAPTISM. 

1770.—Of those who came oftenest amonof them at San 
Diego, was an Indian about fifteen years of age, who was at 
last induced to eat whatever was given him without fear. 
Father Junipero had a desire to teach him, and after under¬ 
standing a little of the language he desired him to try and 
bring some little one for baptism. He was told to tell the 
parents that by allowing a little water to be put on the head 
the child would become a son of God, be clothed and become 
equal to the Spaniards. He returned with several Indians, one 
of whom brought the child for baptism. Full of joy the 
child was clothed, and the venerable priest ordered the soldiers 
to attend this first baptism. The ceremony proceeded, and as 
the water was about to be poured the Indians suddenly snatched 
away the child and made off in great haste, leaving the father 
in amazement, with the water in his hands unused. 

It was not, however, until the 26th of December, 1770, that 
the first baptism of the Indians was celebrated at Monterey, 
which turned out better than the first attempt at San Diego. 
But at the end of three years only 175 were baptized, showing 
that the Indians received civilization slowly. 

MISSION OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

1776.—On September 17, 1776, the presidio and mission of 
San Francisco were founded, on what was then the extreme 
boundary of California, the former in a manner being a front¬ 
ier command, having a jurisdiction which extended to the 
farthest limits of Spanish discovery. 

In its early day the whole military force in Upper California 
did not number more than from two to three hundred men, 
divided between the four presidios of San [Diego, Santa Bar¬ 
bara, Monterey, and San Francisco, while there were but two 
towns or pueblos, Los Angeles and San Jose. 

When Junipero Serra and his band of missionaries entered 
Upper California from the lower territory, they brought with 
them a number of horses, mules, and cattle, wherewith to stock 
the proposed missions. These were duly distributed, and in 
time asses, sheep, goats, and swine were added. 

RICH MEN OF 1793. 

1793.—An inventory of the rich men of the presidio of San 
Francisco, bearing date 1793, was discovered some years since, 


showing that the entire number of stock owned by fourteen 
wealthy Spaniards, was 115 cattle, 298 sheep and 17 mares- 

These are the men who laid the foundation of these immense 
hordes of cattle which were wont to roam about the entire State, 
and who were the fathers of those whom we now term native 
Californians. 

As year succeeded year so did their stock increase. 

They recieved tracts of land “ almost for the asking.” 

Vast bands of cattle roamed about at will over the plains 
and among the mountains. Once a year these had to be driven 
in and rodeod, i. e., branded, a work of considerable danger, 
and one requiring much nerve. The occasion of rodeoing, how¬ 
ever, was the signal for a feast; a large beeve would be slaugh¬ 
tered, and all would make merry until it was consumed. The 
rule or law concerning branded cattle in those early days was 
very strict. 

If an}' one was known to have branded his neighbor’s 
cattle with his own mark, common usage called upon him 
to return in kind fourfold. 

Not only did this apply to cattle alone, but to all other 
kinds of live-stock. 


TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF MISSION INDIANS BETWEEN 1802 

AND 1822. 


NaMB OP MI88ION. 

BAPTIZED. 

MARRIED. 

DIED. 

Existing. 

San Diego. 

5,452 

1,460 

3,186 

1,696 

San Luis Rey. 

4,024 

922 

1,507 

2,663 

San Juan Capistrano. 

3,879 

1,026 

2,531 

1,052 

Santa Catarina. 

6,906 

1,638 

4,635 

1,593 

San Fernando. 

2,519 

709 

1,505 

1,001 

San Gabriel. 

3,608 

973 

2,608 

973 

Santa Barbara. 

4,917 

1,288 

3,224 

1,010 

San Buenaventura. 

1,195 

330 

896 

582 

Purissima Conception. 

3,100 

919 

2,173 

764 

San Luis Obispo. 

2.562 

715 

1,954 

467 

San Miguel. 

2,205 

632 

1,336 

926 

San Antonio de Padua. 

4,119 

1,037 

317 

834 

Our Lady of Soledad. 

1,932 

584 

1,333 

532 

San Carlos. 

3,267 

912 

2,432 

341 

San Juan Bautista. 

3,270 

823 

1,853 

1,222 

Santa Cruz. 

2,136 

718 

1,541 

499 

Santa Clara. 

7,324 

2,056 

6,565 

1,394 

San Jose. 

4,573 

1,376 

2.933 

1,620 

San Francisco. 

6,804 

2.050 

5,202 

958 

San Rafael. 

829 

244 

183 

830 

Totals. 

74,621 

20,412 

47,925 

20,958 


DECLINE OF THE MISSIONS. 

1803.—In this year one of the missions had become the 
scene of a revolt; and earlier still, as we learn from an unpub¬ 
lished correspondence of the fathers, it was not unusual for some 
of the converted Indians to abandon the missions and return 
to their former wandering life. It was customary on those 
occasions to pursue the deserters, and compel them to return. 

1813.—The extinction of the missions was decreed by act of 
the Spanish Cortez in 1813, and again in 1828; also, by the 























































FARM RESIDENCE OF W. J.NEWPORT. 3 MILES N.E.OF GRANGE VILLE .TULARE Cd. CAL 


^ r ir< 


RANCH AND RESIDENCE OF JOHN H. SHORE. NEAR LEMOORE. TULARE. CO. CAL 






















































































































































































SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS. 


29 


Mexican Congress in 1833. Year after year they were 
despoiled of their property, until their final overthrow in 
1845. 

Each successive involution in Mexico had recourse to the rich 
California missions for plunder. 

In 1813, when the contest for national independence was 
being waged on Mexican territory, Spain resolved upon dis¬ 
pensing with the services of the fathers, by placing the mis¬ 
sions in the hands of the secular clergy. The professed object 
of this secularization scheme was, indeed, the welfare of the 
Indians and colonists; but how little this accorded with the 
real intentions of the Government, is seen from the seventh 
section of the decree passed by the cortex, wherein it is stated 
that one-half of the land was to be hypothecated for the pay¬ 
ment of the national debt. This decree of the Government 
was not carried out at the time, yet it had its effect on the 
state and well-being of the missions in general. 

REIGN OF DISORDER - -a^r- 

.jsi r- i- 

BEGINS. 

1826.—In 1826 in¬ 
structions were for¬ 
warded by the Fed¬ 
eral Government to 
the authorities of Cal¬ 
ifornia for the liber- 
ationof the Indians. 

This was followed a 
few years later by an¬ 
other Act of the Leg¬ 
islature, ordering the 
whole of the missions 
to be secularized and 
the religious to with¬ 
draw. The ostensible 
object assigned by the authors of this measure, w r as the execu¬ 
tion of the original plan formed by the Government. The 
missions, it was alleged, were never intended to be permanent 
establishments. 

Meantime, the internal state of the missions was becoming 
more and more complex and disordered. The desertions were 
more frequent and numerous, the hostilities of the unconverted 
more daring, and the general disposition of the people inclined 
to revolt. American traders and freebooters had entered the 
country, spread themselves all over the province, and sowed 
the seeds of discord and revolt among the inhabitants. Many 
of the more reckless and evil-minded readily listened to their 
suggestions, adopted their counsels, and broke out into open 
hostilities. 

In 1802, when Humboldt visited California, he estimated the 
whole population of the upper country as follow's: Converted 
Indians, 15,562; whites and . mulattoes, 1,300; total, 66,862. 
Wild Indians, or bestios (beasts), as they were called, were 


quite numerous, but being unbaptized were considered beneath 
the notice of reasonable beings. 

ATTACKS ON SEVERAL MISSIONS. 

Their hostile attack was first directed against the mission of 
Santa Cruz, which was captured and plundered, when they 
directed their course to Monterey, and, in common with their 
American friends, attacked and plundered that place. From 
these and other like occurrences, it was clear that the condition 
of the missions was one of the greatest peril. The spirit of 
discord had spread among the people, hostility to the authority 
of the fathers had become common, while desertion from the 
villages was of frequent and almost constant occurrence. 

SECULARIZATION OF THE MISSIONS. 

1833.—The Mexican Congress passed a bill to secularize the 
missions in Upper and Lower California, August 17, 1833. 

This took away from 

-m r mce p ai TTiir.ig^ir. : r . _ __ _ J 

. ■ • . !j= •"■?=! ' 

the friars the control 
of the mission prop¬ 
erty, placing it in 
charge of administra¬ 
tors; it gave the civil 
officers predominance 
over the priestly class. 
The President of the 
Republic issued his 
instructions to Gov¬ 
ernor Figueroa, of 
California, who in 
turn, August 9, 1834, 
issued a decree that 
in August, 1835, ten 
of the missions would 
be con verted into 
pueblos or towns. A portion of the mission property was 
then divided among the resident Indians, and the decree 
issued for the liberation of all the Indians was immedi¬ 
ately put in force. The dispersion and demoralization of the 
people were the immediate results. Released from all restraint, 
the Indians proved idle, shiftless, and dissipated, wholly incap¬ 
able of self-control, and a nuisance both to themselves and to 
every one with whom they came in contact. Within eiebt 
years after the execution of the decree, the number of Chris- 
tains diminished from 30,650 to 4,450! 

A REVIEW OF THE MISSIONS. 

At the end of sixty-five years, Hon. John W. Dwindle tells 
us, in Centennial Memoirs, page 89, that the missionaries of 
Upper California found themselves in possession of twenty-one 
prosperous missions, planted upon a line of about 700 miles, 
running from San Diego north to the latitude of Sonoma. 
More than 30,000 Indian converts were lodged in the mis- 



Mission Church and Buildings at Sonoma. 































30 


REIGN of destruction and desolation. 


sion buildings, receiving religious culture, assisting at divine 
worship, and cheerfully performing their easy tasks. Over 
700,000 cattle of various species, pastured upon the plains’ 
as well as 60,000 horses. One hundred and twenty thousand 
bushels of wheat were raised annually, which, with maize, 
beans, peas, and the like, made up an annual crop of 180,000 
bushels; while, according to the climate, the different mis¬ 
sions rivaled each other in the production of wine, brandy' 
soap, leather, hides, wool, oil, cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, salt 
and soda. 

Of 200,000 horned cattle annually slaughtered, the mis¬ 
sions furnished about one-half, whose hides, hoofs, horns 
and tallow were sold at a net result of $10 each, making 
$1,000,000 dollars from that source alone; while the other 
articles of which no definite statistics can be obtained, doubt¬ 
less reached an equal value, making a total production by the 
missions themselves of $2,000,000. 

RAPID DECLINE OF CONVERTS. 

It will thus be observed that out of the 74,621 converts re¬ 
ceived into the missions, the large number of 47,925 had suc¬ 
cumbed to disease. What the nature of this plague was it is 
hard to establish; the missionaries themselves could assign no 
cause. It was, in all probability, caused by a sudden change 
in their lives from a free, wandering existence, to a state of 
settled quietude. 

EARLY COLONIZATION PARTY. 

1334 —During the year 1834, one Jose Maria Hijar was dis¬ 
patched from Mexico with a colonization party, bound for Up¬ 
per California. The ship touched at San Diego, and here a 
portion of the party disembarked. The remainder proceeded 
to Monterey, and, a storm arising, their ship was wrecked upon 
the beach. Hijar now presented his credentials, and was as¬ 
tonished to find that a messenger overland from Mexico had 
already arrived bringing news of Santa Ana’s revolution, to¬ 
gether with dispatches from the new president revoking his 
(Hijar’s) appointment; and continuing to keep Figueroa in 
office. 

In the bitter discussion that followed, it came out that Hijar 
had been authorized to pay for his ship, the Natalia* in mis¬ 
sion tallow; that the colonists were organized into a company, 
duly authorized to take charge of the missions, squeeze out of 
them the requisite capital, and control the business of the ter¬ 
ritory. The plan had miscarried by a chance, but it showed 
the missionaries what they had to expect. 

With the energy born of despair, eager at any cost to outwit 
those who sought to profit by their ruin, the mission fathers 
hastened to destroy that, which through more than half a cen¬ 
tury, thousands of human beings had spent their lives to accu¬ 
mulate. 

"The identical vessel in which Napoleon escaped from the Isle of Elba—1S15. 


TABLE EXPLAINING THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE ADMINISTRA¬ 
TION OF THE MISSIONS BY THE FATHERS IN 1834 AND THAT 
OF THE CIVIL AUTHORITIES IN 1842. 


NAMES OF THE 
MISSIONS. 

Number 

of 

Indians. 

Number 
of Horned 
Cattle. 

Number 

OF 

Horses. 

No. of Sheep, 
Goats 

AND 8 WINE. 

Harvest 

Bushels. 

1834. 

1842. 

1834. 

1842. 

1834. 

1S42. 

1*34. 

1842. 

1834. 

San Diego. 

2,500 

500 

12,000 

20 

1,800 

100 

17,000 

200 

13,000 



050 

So.oOO 

2,80o 

10 000 

400 

100,000 

4,000 

14,000 

San Juan Capistrano . 

IJOO 

100 

70^000 

'600 

1,900 

150 

loiooo 

200 

lojooo 

San Gabriel. 

2,700 

500 

105,000 

700 

20,000 

500 

40,000 

3,500 

20,000 

San Fernando. 

1,501 

400 

14,000 

1,500 

5,000 

400 

7,000 

2,000 

8,000 

San Buenaventura... 

1.100 

300 

4,000 

200 

1,000 

40 

6,000 

400 

3,000 

Santa Barbara. . 

1,200 

400 

5,000 

1,800 

1,200 

180 

5,000 

400 

3,000 

Santa Inez.. 

1,3: 0 

250 

14,000 

10.U00 

1,200 

500 

12,000 

4,000 

3,500 

Da Purissima Conception. 

900 

60 

15,000 

800 

2,000 

300 

14,000 

3,500 

6,000 

San Luis Obispo. 

1,250 

80 

9,000 

300 

4,000 

200 

7,000 

800 

4,000 

San Miguel. 

1,200 

30 

4,000 

40 

2,500 

50 

10,000 

400 

2,500 

San Antonio. 

1,400 

150 

12,000 

80o 

2.000 

500 

14,000 

2,000 

3,000 


700 

20 

6,000 


1,200 


7,000 


2,500 


500 

40 

3,000 


700 


7^000 


ljfiOO 


1,450 

80 

ojooo 


1,200 


9,000 


3,500 


600 

50 

8^000 


800 


10,000 


2,500 

Santa Clara. 

1,800 

300 

13,000 

i,5or 

1,200 

250 

15',000 

3,000 

6',000 

San Jose. 

2,300 

4 O0 

2,400 

S,0U' 

1,100 

200 

19,000 

7,000 

10,000 

Dolores de San Francisco. 

500 

50 

5,000 

6t 

1,600 

60 

4.000 

200 

2,500 

San Rafael. 

1,250 

20 

3,000 


500 


4,500 


1,600 

San Francisco Solano. 

1,300 

70 

3,000 


700 


4,000 


3,000 

Totals. 

10,650 

4,450 

306,400 

29,020 

32,600 

3,820 

321,500 

31,600 

123,000 


GREAT SLAUGHTER OF CATTLE. 


Hitherto, cattle had been killed only as their meat was 
needed for use; or, at long intervals perhaps, for the hides and 
tallow alone, when an overplus of stock rendered such action 
necessary. Now they were slaughtered in herds. There was 
no market for the meat, and this was considered worthless. 
The creature was lassoed, thrown, its throat cut; and while 
yet writhing in the death agony its hide was stripped and 
pegged upon the ground to dry. There were no vessels to 
contain the tallow, and this was run into great pits dug for 
that purpose, to be spaded out anon, and shipped with the 
hides to market. 

Whites and natives alike revelled in gore, and vied with each 
other in destruction. So many cattle were there to kill, it 
seemed as though this profitable and pleasant work must last 
forever. The white settlers were especially pleased with the 
turn affairs had taken, and many of them did not scruple un¬ 
ceremoniously to appropriate large herds of young cattle where¬ 
with to stock their ranches. Such were the scenes beinw en- 

O 

acted on the plains. / 

MISSION BUILDINGS DESTROYED. 

At all the missions a similar work was going on. The outer 
buildings were unroofed, and the timber converted into fire¬ 
wood. Olive groves and orchards were cut down; shrubberies 
and vineyards torn up. Where the axe and vandal hands 
failed, fire was applied to complete the work of destruction. 
Then the solitary bell left hangiug on each solitary and dis¬ 
mantled church, called their assistants to a last session of praise 



When the government administrators came, there was but 
little left; and when they went away, there was nothing. 

MISSIONS ORDERED ABANDONED. 

1845.—A proclamation of Governor Pico, June 5, 1845, 
provides:— 

















































































FINAL DISPOSITION OF THE MISSIONS. 


31 


1. That the governer should call together the neophytes of 
the following-named missions: San Rafael, Dolores, Soledad, 
San Miguel and La Purissima; and in case those missions were 
abandoned by their neophytes, that he should give them one 
month’s notice, by proclamation, to return and cultivate said 
missions, which if they did not do, the missions should be de¬ 
clared abandoned, and the Assembly and governor dispose of 
them for the good of the Department. 

2. That the missions of Carmel, San Juan Bautista, San 
Juan Capistrano and San Francisco Solano, should be consid¬ 
ered as pueblos, or villages, which was their present condition; 
and that the property which remained to them, the governor, 
after separating sufficient for the curate’s house, for churches 
and then' pertinents, and for a municipal house, should sell at 
public auction, the product to be applied, first to pajing the 
debts of the establishments, and the remainder, if any, to the 
benefit of divine worship. 

3. That the remainder of the missions to San Diego, inclu¬ 
sive, should be rented at the discretion of the governor. 

SALE OF THE MISSIONS. 

1845.—On the 28th of October of this year, Governor Pico 
gave public notice for the sale to the highest bidder of five mis¬ 
sions, viz: San. Rafael, Dolores, Soledad, San Miguel and La 
Purissima; likewise for the sale of the remaining buildings 
in the pueblos (formerly missions) of San Luis Obispo, Car¬ 
mel, San Juan Bautista, and San Juan Capistrano, after separ¬ 
ating the churches and their appurtenances, and a curate’s, 
municipal and school house. The auctions were appointed 
to take place, those of San Luis Obispo, Purissima and San 
Juan Capistrano, the first four days of December following 
(1845); those of San Rafael, Dolores, San Juan Bautista, 
Carmel, Soledad and San Miguel, the 23d and 24th of Janu¬ 
ary, 1846; meanwhile, the Government would receive and 
take into consideration proposals in relation to said missions. 

The final disposition of the missions at the date of 1846 will 
be seen in the following:— 

TABLE SHOWING THE FINAL DISPOSITION OF MISSIONS. 


No. 

Name of Mission. 

How Disposed of by tub Government. 

1 

San Diego. 

Sold to Santiago Arguello, June S, 1346. 

2 

San Luis Rev . 

Sold to Antonio Cot and Andres Pico, May 13,1846. 

3 

San Juan Capistrano. 

Pueblo, and remainder sold to John Fo&t.r aud James 
MoKinley, December 6, 1845. 

Sold to Julian Workman and Hugo Reid, June 18, 1846. 

4 

San Gabriel. . 

6 

San Fernando. 

Rented to Andres Pico, for nine years from December, 
1845, and sold to Juan Cclis, June, 1846. 

6 

San Buenaventura. 

Sold to .1 oseph Arnaz. 

7 

Santa Barbara. 

Rented for nine vears, from June 8, 1846, to Nich’s Den. 

s 

Santa Ynes . 

Rented to Joaquin Carrillo. 

9 

La Purisima . 

Sold to John Temple, December 6, 1845. 

10 

San Luis Obispo. 

Pueblo. 

11 

San Miguel. 

Uncertain. 

12 

San Antonio. 

Vacant. 

13 

Soledad. . 

House and garden sold toSobranes, January 4,1846. 

14 

Carmel de Monterey. 

Pueblo. 

15 

San Juan Bautista. 

Pueblo. 

16 

Santa Cruz. 

Vacant. 

17 

Santa Clara. 

In charge of priest. 

18 

San Jose. . 

In charge of priest. 

19 

Dolores, (San Francisco)... 

Pueblo. 

20 

San Rafael. .. .. 

Mission in charge of priest. 

21 

San Francisco Solano. 

Mission in charge of priest. 


Industries of Early Times. 

Farming in California was in a very primitive state up to its 
occupation by the Americans. What farming the Californians 
did was of a very rude description; their plow was a primitive 
contrivance, their vehicles unwieldy. Such articles of hus¬ 
bandry as reapers, mowers and headers had not entered their 
dreams, and they were perfectly independent of their advan¬ 
tages. 

Grain was cut with a short, stumpy, smooth-edged sickle; it 
was threshed by the tramping of horses. One of their few 
evils was the depredations of the wild Indians, who would 
sometimes steal their horses, and then the cattle would have to 
perform the work of separation. The cleaning of grain was 
performed by throwing it in the air with wooden shovels, and 
allowing the wind to carry off the chaff. 

In a work published in London in 1839, by Alexander Forbes, 
are some interesting descriptions of the country about the Bay 
of Monterey, and the condition of farming as witnessed by him 
in 1835. 

PLOW USED BY CALIFORNIANS. 

The ploAV used at that time must have been of great antiquity. 
It was composed of two principal pieces; one, called the main 
piece, was formed out of a crooked branch of timber, cut from 
a tree of such a natural shape. This plow had only one handle, 
and no mould-board or other contrivance for turning over the 
furrow, and was, therefore, only capable of making a simple 
cut, equal on both sides. 



The only iron about the plow was a small piece fitted to the 
point of the stile, and of the shape seen in the detached part of 
the engraving. The beam was of great length, so as to reach 
the yoke of the oxen. This beam was also composed of a 
natural piece of wood, cut from a tree of proper dimensions, and 
had no dressing, except taking off the bark. This beam was 
inserted into the upper part of the main piece, and connected 
with it by a small upright piece of wood, on which it slides, and 
is fixed by two wedges; by withdrawing these wedges the beam 
was elevated or lowered, and depth of furrow regulated. 

The long beam passes between the two oxen, like the pole of 
a carriage, and no chain is used. A pin is put through the 
point of the beam, and the yoke is tied to that by thongs of 
rawhide. The plow-man goes at one side, holding the handle 
with his right hand, and managing the goad and cattle with 
his left. The manner of yoking the oxen was b} ? putting the 
yoke (a straight stick of wood) on the top of the head, close 
















































32 


GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS. 


behind the horns, and tied firmly to their roots and to the fore¬ 
head by thongs, so that, instead of drawing by the shoulders, 
as with us now, they drew by the roots of the horns and fore¬ 
head. They had no freedom to move their heads, and went 
with the nose turned up, and seemed to be in pain. 

With this plow only a sort of a rut could be made, and the 
soil was broken by successive crossing and recrossing many 
times. Plowing could only be done after the rains came, and 
an immense number of plows had to be employed. 

MODERN FARMING TOOLS UNKNOWN. 

The harrow was totally unknown, and a bush was drawn 
over the field to cover in the seed; but in some places a long, 
heavy log of wood was drawn over the field, something of the 
plan of a roller, but dragging without turning round, so as to 
carry a portion of the soil over the seed. 

INDUSTRIES OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS. 

The Californians were not without their native manufactures, 
and they did not, as is generally supposed, rely altogether upon 
the slaughter of cattle and the sale of hides and tallow. The 
missionaries had taught them the cultivation of the grape and 
manufacture of wine. Hemp, flax, cotton and tobacco were 
grown in small quantities. Soap, leather, oil, brandy, wool 
salt, soda, harness, saddles, wagons, blankets, etc., were manu¬ 
factured. 

Of California it may be truly said, that before the admission 
of foreign settlers, neither the potato nor green vegetables were 
cultivated as articles of food. 

DAIRYING IN EARLY TIMES. 

The management of the dairy was totally unknown. There 
was hardly any such thing in use as butter and cheese. The 
butter was an execrable compound of sour milk and cream 
mixed together; the butter being made of the cream on top of 
the milk, and a large portion of the sour, beat up together by 
hand, and without a churn. It was of a dirty gray color, and 
very disagreeable flavor, and always rancid. 

They had an awkward way of milking, as they thought it 
absolutely necessary to use the calf to induce the cow to give 
milk; so they let the calf suck for some time alone, and then 
lay hold of the teats as they could, while the calf was still suck¬ 
ing, and by a kind of stealth procured a portion of the milk. 

The supercargo of a British ship from India, bound to the 
coast of Mexico, informed Alexander Forbes* in 1832, that on 
making the coast of California, they touched at the Russian set¬ 
tlement, called La Bodega (Sonoma County), and which borders 
on the Spanish territory—or rather of right belongs to it, and 
although the part which the Russians possess is sterile in com¬ 
parison to the fine plains occupied by the Spaniards, yet they 
found immediately on their arrival a present sent on board by 
the Russian Governor, of most excellent butter, fat mutton, anti 

* Now a resident of Oakland. See Biography, page 31. 


good vegetables, all things most desirable to people arriving 
from a long voyage. They soon proceeded to Monterey, the 
capital of Spanish California, where they could find nothing 
but bull beef; neither bread, butter, cheese, or vegetables could 
be procured. As late as 1834 Monterey was supplied with 
butter and cheese from the Russian settlement at Bodega. 

PRIMITIVE THRESHING SCENE. 

When the crops wereVipe, they were cut with a sickle, or any 
other convenient weapon, and then it became necessary to thresh 
them. Now for the modus operandi. The floor of the corral 
into which it was customary to drive the horses and cattle in 
order to lasso them, from constant use had become hardened. 
Into this inclosure the grain would be piled, and upon it the 
vianatha, or band of mares, would be turned loose to tramp 
out the grain. The wildest horses would be turned adrift upon 
the pile of straw, when would ensue a scene of the wildest con¬ 
fusion; the excited animals being driven, amidst the yelling of 
the vaguer os and the cracking of whips, here, there, and every¬ 
where, around, across, and lengthwise, until the whole was 
trampled, leaving naught but the grain and chaff 

The most difficult part of the operation, however, was the 
separating of the grain from the chaff Owing to the length 
of the dry season, there was no urgent haste to effect this; 
therefore when the wind was high enough, the Indians, who 
soon fell into the ways of the white pioneers, more especially 
where they were paid in kind and kindness, would toss the 
trampled mass into the air with large wooden forks, cut from 
the adjacent oaks, and the wind carried away the lighter chaff, 
leaving the heavier grain. With a favorable wind, several 
bushels of wheat could thus be winnowed in the course of one 
day. 

How insignificant this scene appears when contrasted with 
a San Joaquin farmer’s outfit of a 24-horse reaper and thresher 
combined, which is fully described further on in this work, and 
represented in several engravings. 

GOLDEN AGE OF NATIVE CALIFORNIANS. 

Mr. William Halley says: From 1833 to 1850 may beset 
down as the golden age of the native Californians. Not till 
then did the settlement of the rancheros become general. The 
missions were breaking up, the presidios deserted, the popula¬ 
tion dispersed, and land could be had almost for the askino-. 
Never before, and never since, did-a people settle down under 
the blessings of more diverse advantages. 

The country was lovely, the climate delightful; the valleys 
were filled with horses and cattle; wants were few, and no one 
dreaded dearth. There was meat for the pot and wine for the 
cup, and wild game in abundance. No one was in a hurry- 
“ Bills payable ” or the state of the stocks troubled no one, and 
Arcadia seems to have temporarily made this her seat. The 
people did not, necessarily, even have to stir the soil for a live¬ 
lihood, because the abundance of their stock furnished them 









JULIAN FRUIT FARM” SOUTH OF GRANGCVILLE, GFORGE T H YA R KS. P R 0 P. 


EU.torr.UTH +emONi. 


ECHO TT. LITh. -WON'T- S T. 


WEST OF GRANGEVILLE, CAL 





































































































































































































































































































£ 











INDUSTRIES OF THE NATIVE CALIFORNIANS. 


38 


with food and enough hides and tallow to procure money for 
every purpose. They had also the advantage of cheap and 
docile labor in the Indians, already trained to work at the 
missions. And had they looked in the earth for gold, they 
could have found it in abundance. 

They were exceedingly hospitable and sociable. Every guest 
was welcomed. The sparsity of the population made them rely 
on each other, and they had many occasions to bring them 
together. 

SCENES OF FESTIVITY AND GAYETY. 

Church days, bull-fights, rodeos, were all occasions of festiv¬ 
ity. Horsemanship was practiced as it was never before out 
of Arabia; dancing found a ball-room in every house, and music 
was not unknown. For a Caballero to pick up a silver coin 
from the ground at full gallop, was not considered a feat; and 
any native youth could perform the mustang riding which was 
lately accomplished with such credit by young Peralta, in New 
York. To fasten down a mad bull with a lariat, or even sub¬ 
due him single-handed in a corral, were every-day perform¬ 
ances. The branding and selecting of cattle in rodeos was a 
gala occasion. 

While the young men found means to gratify their tastes 
for highly-wrought saddles and elegant bridles, the women had 
their fill of finery, furnished by the Yankee vessels that visited 
them regularly for trade every year. Few schools were estab¬ 
lished, but the rudiments of education were given at home. 
The law was administered bv Alcaldes, Prefects, and Governor. 
Murder was very rare, suicide unknown, and San Francisco 
was without a jail. 

FAVORITE NATIVE LIQUOR. 

Wine was plentiful, and so was brandy. There was a native 
liquor in use, that was very intoxicating. It was a sort of 
cognac, which was very agreeable and very volatile, and went 
like a flash to the brain. It was expensive, and those selling it 
made a large profit. This liquor was known as aguadiente, 
and was the favorite tipple until supplanted by the whisky of 
the Americanos. It was mostly made in Los Angeles, where 
the larger part of the grapes raised were used for it. 

THE ADOBE RESIDENCES. 

The walls were fashioned of large sun-dried bricks, made of 
that black loam known to settlers in the Golden State as adobe 
soil, mixed with straw, with no particularity as to species, 
measuring about eighteen inches square and three in thickness; 
these were cemented with mud, plastered within with the same 
substance, and whitewashed when finished. The rafters and 
joists were of rough timber, with the bark simply peeled off 
and placed in the requisite position; while the residences of the 
wealthier classes were roofed with tiles of a convex shape, 
placed so that the one should overlap the other, and thus make 
a water-shed; or, later, with shingles, the poor contenting them¬ 
selves with a thatch of tide, fastened down with thongs of 1 


bullock’s hide. The former modes of covering were expensive, 
and none but the opulent could afford the luxury of tiles. 
When completed, however, these mud dwellings will stand the 
brunt and wear and tear of many decades, as can be evidenced 
by the number which are still occupied. 

There were occasional political troubles, but these did not 
much interfere with the profound quiet into which the people 
had settled. The change from a monarchy into a republic 
scarcely produced a ripple. The invasions of the Americans 
did not stir them very profoundly. But they have received 
such a shock in their slumbers that they, too, like their predeces¬ 
sors, the Indians, are rapidly passing away. 

SPANISH OX-CART. 


The form of the ox-cart was as rude as that of the plow 
The pole was of very heavy dimensions, and fastened to the yoke 
and oxen the same as the plow. The animals had to bear the 



distress of the poor animals, as they felt every jerk and twist 
of the cart in the most sensitive manner; and as the roads were 
full of ruts and stones, it is a wonder that the animals’ heads 
were not twisted oft’. 



Old Fashioned Spanish Ox-Cart. 


The wheels of this cart were of the most singular construc¬ 
tion. They had no spokes and were made of three pieces of 
timber. The middle piece was hewn out of a large tree, of size 
to form the nave and middle of the wheel, all in one. The 
other two pieces were made of timber bent and joined by keys 
of wood. There does not enter into the construction of this cart 
a particle of iron, not even a nail, for the axle is of wood and 
the lynch-pin of the same material. 

Walter Colton says: “ The ox-cart of the Californian is quite 
unique and primitive. The wheels are cut transversely 
from the butt end of a tree, and have holes through the center 
for a huge wood axle, as seen in our engraving. The oxen 
draw by the head and horns instead of the chest; and they 
draw enormous loads. 

“ On gala da} r s it was swept out and covered with mats: a 
deep body put on, which is arched with hoop-poles, and over 
these a pair of sheets ai'e extended for a covering. Into this 
the ladies ai’e tumbled with the children, and they start 
ahead.” 

An old settler writes to us that " Many of our people will 






































34 


THE RUSSIANS OCCUPY CALIFORNIA. 


recollect the carts used in early days by the Californians. They 
usually traveled from place to place on horseback; but when 
the family desired to visit a neighbor or go to town, the family 
coach was called into use. The vehicle consisted of two 
immense wooden wheels, cut or sawed off a log, with holes as 
near the center as convenient for the axle-tree, with a tongue 
lashed to the axle with rawhide thongs. Upon this a frame, as 
wide as the wheels would permit, and from seven to twelve 
feet in length, was placed, upon which Avas securely fastened 
one or two rawhides with the flesh side down, and a rude frame 
over the top, upon which to stretch an awning, with rawhide 
thongs woven around the sides to keep the children from 
tumbling out. 

“ The female portion of the family, with the small children, 
would seat themselves in the cart, to which was attached a pair 
of the best traveling oxen on the ranch. An Indian would 
drive, or l'ather lead the oxen (for he usually walked ahead of 
them). In this simple, rude contrivance the family would travel 
twenty or thirty miles in a day with as much comfort, appar¬ 
ently, as people now take in riding in our modern vehicles. 
Sometimes several families would ride in a single cart, and visit 
their friends, go to town for the purpose of shopping, or to 
attend church, etc.” 

SPANISH GRIST-MILL. 

Wheat and corn were generally ground or pounded in the 
common hand stone mortar; but in larger settlements horse¬ 
power was used in turning or rolling one large stone upon 
another, as shown in the engraving on page 35. 

Water-power mills for grinding flour in Upper California 
were but few, and of the most primitive description; but none 
better are to be found in the other parts of Spanish America 
not even in Chili where wheat abuunds. These mills consist of 
an upright axle, to the lower end of which is fixed a horizontal 
water-wheel placed under the building, and to the up^>er end of 
the mill-stone; and as there is no intermediate machinery to 
increase the velocity, it is evident that the mill-stone can make 
only the same number of revolutions as the water-wheel. This 
makes it necessary that the wheel should be of very small 
diameter, otherwise no power of water thrown upon it could 
make it go at a rate sufficient to give the mill-stone the requisite 
velocity. It is therefore made of very small dimensions, and is 
constructed in the following manner: A set of what is called 
cucharas (spoons) is stuck in the periphery of the wheel 
which serve in place of float-boards; they are made of pieces of 
timber in something of the shape of spoons, the handles being 
inserted in mortises on the edge of the wheel, and the bowls 
of the spoons made to receive the water, which spouts on them 
laterally and forces the small wheel around with nearly the 
whole velocity of the water which impinges upon it. Of this 
style of mill even there were not more than three in all Califor¬ 
nia as late as 1835. 


Russian Settlements in Sonoma. 

1811.—In January, 1811, Alexander Koskoff, took possession 
of the country about Bodega, Sonoma County, on the fragile 
pleas that he had been refused a supply of water at Yerba 
Buena, and that he had obtained, by right of purchase from 
the Indians, all the land lying between Point Reyes and Point 
Arena, and for a distance of three leagues inland. Here he 
remained for a while, and to Bodega gave the name of Roman- 
zoff, calling the stream now known as Russian River, Slavianka. 

Although repeatedly ordered to depart by the King of Spain, 
who claimed all the territory north of Fuca Straits, they con¬ 
tinued to remain for a lengthened period, possessors of the land. 

FIRST PIONEER SQUATTERS. 

And as General Vallejo remarks: “As the new-comers came 
without permission from the Spanish Government, they may 
be termed the pioneer ‘squatters’ of California.” So far indeed 
was it from the intention of the unwelcome Muscovite to move, 
that we find them extending their trapping expeditions along 
the coast, to the north and south, and for a considerable dis¬ 
tance inland. 

At Fort Ross, in Sonoma County, they constructed a quadri¬ 
lateral stockade, which was deemed strong enough to resist the 
possible attacks of Spaniards or Indians. It had within its 
walls quarters for the commandant, officers, and men, an 
arsenal, store-houses, a Greek church, surmounted with a cross 
and provided with a chime of bells. 

ONE OF THE FIRST ORCHARDS. 

About a mile distant from the fort there was an inclosure 
containing about five acres, which was inclosed by a fence 
about eight feet high, made of redwood slabs about two inches 
in thickness, these being driven into the ground, while the tops 
were nailed firmly to girders extending from post to post, set 
about ten feet apart. Within the inclosure there was an 
orchard, consisting of apple, prune, and cherry trees. Of these, 
fifty of the first and nine of the last-named, moss-grown and 
gray with age, still remain, while it is said that all the old 
stock of German prunes in California came from seed produced 
there. 

FIRST INDUSTRY NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

We may safely assert, that to these Russians belongs the 
honor of erecting the first church in California, north of the 
Bay of San Francisco; but this is not all; to them belongs the 
credit of first planting fruit, raising grain, and working in 
leather, wood and iron, within the limits of the same territory. 
With these industries in hand, there is not the remotest doubt 
that the Russians looked to a future permanent possession of 
northern California. At this time, too, they made consider¬ 
able annual shipments of grain to Sitka from Fort Ross and 
Bodega. 










INDUSTRY AND THRIFT OF THE RUSSIANS. 


35 


RUSSIANS LOCATE AND FORTIFY. 


FIRST TANNERY ERECTED. 


The location once chosen they set to work to prepare' their 
new homes. A site was chosen for the stockade near the 
shore of the ocean, and in such a position as to protect all their 
ships lying in the little cove, and prevent any vessel inimical 
to them from landing. The plat of ground inclosed in this stock¬ 
ade was a parallelogram, 280 feet wide and 312 feet long, and 
containing about two acres. Its angles were placed very 
nearly upon the cardinal points of the compass. At the north 
and south angle there was constructed an octagonal bastion, two 
stories high, and furnished with six pieces of artillery. These 
bastions were built exactly alike, and were about twenty-four 
feet in diameter. 

The walls were formed of hewed logs, mortised together at 
the corners, and were about eight inches in thickness. The 
roof w’as conical shaped, having a small flag-staff at the apex 
The stockade approached these towers in such a way that one- 
half of them was within the inclosure and the other half on the 
outside, the entrance to them being through small doors on the 
inside, while there were embrasures both on the inside and 
outside. They were thus arranged so as to protect those 
within from an outside enemy. All around the stockade 
there were embrasures suitable for the use of muskets or 
carronades, of which latter it is said, several were in the fortress. 

RUSSIAN CHAPEL AT FORT ROSS. 

On the northern side of the eastern angle there was erected 
a chapel which it is said was used by the officers of the garri¬ 
son alone. It was 25x31 feet in dimensions, and strongly built, 
the outer wall forming part of the stockade, and the round 
port-holes for the use of carronades, are peculiar looking open¬ 
ings in a house of worship. The entrance was on the inside 
of the fort, and consisted of a rude, heavy wooden door, held 
upon wooden hinges. There was a vestibule about 10x25 feet 
in size, thus leaving the auditorium 21x25 feet. From the ves¬ 
tibule a narrow stair-way led to a low loft, while the building 
was surmounted with two domes, one of which was round and 
the other pentagonal in shape, in which it is said the Musco¬ 
vites had hung a chime of bells. The roof was made of lon» 
planks, either sawed or rove from redwood, likewise the side of 
the chapel in the fort. 

The frame-work of all the buildings was made of very 
large, heavy timbers, many of them being twelve inches square. 
The rafters were all great, ponderous, round pine logs, a con¬ 
siderable number of them being six inches in diameter. 

FIRST WINDMILL FOR GRINDING WHEAT. 

To the northward of, and near the village, situated on an 
eminence, was a windmill, which was the motor for driving a 
single run of buhrs, and also for a stamping machine used for 
grinding tan-bark. The windmill produced all the flour used 
in that and the Bodega settlements, and probably a consid- J 
erable amount was also sent with the annual shipment to Sitka. 


To the south of the stockade, and in a deep gulch at the 
debouchure of a small stream into the ocean, there stood a very 
large building, probably 80x100 feet in size, the rear half of 
which was used for the purpose of tanning leather. There 
were six vats in all, constructed of heavy, rough redwood slabs, 
and each with a capacity of fifty barrels; there was also the 
usual appliances necessary to conduct a tannery, but these 
implements were large and rough in their make; still with these 
they were able to manufacture a good quality of leather in 
large quantities. 

The front half of the building, or that fronting on the ocean, 
was used as a work-shop for the construction of ships. Ways 
were constructed on a sand beach at this point leading into 
deep water, and upon them were built a number of staunch 
vessels, and from here was launched the very first sea-going 
craft built in California. Still further to the south, and near 
the ocean shore, stood a building 80x100 feet, which bore all 



Grist-Mill of Early Settlers. 


the marks of having been used as a store-house; it was, how¬ 
ever, unfortunately blown down by a storm on July 16, 1878, 
and before many years there will be nothing left to mark its 
former site 

THE RUSSIAN FARMERS. 

The Russians had farmed very extensively at this place, 
having at least 2,000 acres under fence, besides a great 
deal that was not fenced. These fences were chiefly of that 
kind known as rail and post. 

Their agricultural processes were as crude as any of their 
other work. Their plow was very similar to the old Spanish 
implement, described on page 31, so common in this country at 
that time, and still extant in Mexico, with the exception that 
the Muscovite instrument possessed a mold-board. They em¬ 
ployed oxen and cows as draft animals, using the old Spanish 
yoke adjusted to their horns, instead of to their necks. We 
have no account of any attempt at constructing either cart or 
wagon by them, but it is probable that they had vehicles the 
same as those described heretofore, as being in use among the 
Californians at that time. 


























36 


THE RUSSIANS ABANDON CALIFORNIA. 


THRESHING AS DONE BY RUSSIANS. 

Threshing was done on a floor composed of heavy puncheons, 
circular in shape, and elevated somewhat above the ground. 
Between the puncheons were interstices through which the 
grain fell under the floor as it was released from the head. 
The threshing was done in this wise: A layer of grain, in the 
straw, of a foot or two in thickness, was placed upon the 
floor. Oxen were then driven over it, hitched to a log with 
rows of wooden pegs inserted into it. As the log revolved, 
these pegs acted well the part of a flail, and the straw was 
expeditiously relieved of its burden of grain. It was, doubt¬ 
less, no hard job to winnow the grain after it was threshed, as 
the wind blows a stiff breeze at that point during all the sum¬ 
mer months. 

The Russians constructed a wharf at the northern side of 
the little cove, and graded a road down the steep ocean shore 
to it. Its line is still to be seen, as it passed much of the way 
through solid rock. This wharf was made fast to the rock 
on which it was constructed with long iron bolts, of which 
only a few that were driven into the hard surface now remain; 
the wharf itself is gone, hence we are unable to give its di¬ 
mensions, or further details concerning it. 

FIRST LUMBER MADE NORTH OF SAN FRANCISCO. 

1812—These old Muscovites, doubtless, produced the first 
lumber with a saw ever made north of San Francisco Bay, for 
they had both a pit and a whip-saw, the former of which can 
be seen to this day. Judging from the number of stumps still 
standing, and the extent of territory over which they extended 
their logging operations, they evidently consumed large quan¬ 
tities of lumber. The timber was only about one mile distant 
from the ship-yard and landing, while the stumps of trees cut 
by them are still standing, and beside them from one to six 
shoots have sprung up, many of which have now reached a 
size sufficient for lumber purposes. This growth has been 
remarkable, and goes to show that if proper care were taken, 
each half century would see a new crop of redwoods, suffi¬ 
ciently large for all practical purposes, while ten decades would 
see gigantic trees. 

For more than a quarter of a century they continued to 
hold undisturbed possession of the disputed territory, and 
prosecuted their farming, stock-raising, hunting, trapping and 
ship-building enterprises, and whatever may have been the 
causes which led to it, there finally came a time when the 
Russian authorities had decided to withdraw the California 
colony. 

RUSSIANS SELL OUT TO GENERAL SUTTER. 

The proposition was made first by them to the government 
authorities at Monterey, to dispose of their interests at Bodega 
and Fort Ross, including their title to the land; but, as the 
authorities had never recognized their right or title, and did 


not wish to do so at that late date, they refused to purchase. 
Application was next made to General M. J. Vallejo, but on 
the same grounds he refused to purchase. 

They then applied to Captain John A. Sutter, a gentleman at 
that time residing near where Sacramento City now stands, 
and who had made a journey from Sitka, some years before, in 
one of their vessels. They persuaded Sutter into the belief 
that their title was good, and could be maintained; so, after 
making out a full invoice of the articles they had for disposal, 
including all the land lying between Point Reyes and Point 
Mendocino, and one league inland, as well as cattle, farming 
and mechanical implements, also, a schooner of 180 tons bur¬ 
then, some arms, a four-pound brass field-piece, etc., a price 
was decided upon, the sum being 330,000, which, however, was 
not paid at one time, but in cash installments of a few thou¬ 
sand dollars, the last payment being made through Governor 
Burnett, in 1849. 

All the stipulations of the sale having been arranged satis¬ 
factorily to both parties, the transfer was duly made, and 
Sutter became, as he thought, the greatest landholder in Cali¬ 
fornia. In 1859, Sutter disposed of his Russian claim 
which was a six-eighths interest in the lands mentioned above, 
to William Muldrew, George R. Moore and Daniel W. Welty; 
but they only succeeded in getting $6,000 out of one settler, 
and the remainder refusing to pay, the claim was dropped. 

EVACUATION OF FORT ROSS. 

Orders were sent to the settlers at Fort Ross to repair at 
once to San Francisco Bay, and ships were dispatched to bring 
them there, where whaling vessels, which were bound for the 
northwest whaling grounds, had been chartered to convey 
them to Sitka. The vessels arrived at an early hour in the 
day, and the orders shown to the commander, Rotscheff, who 
immediately caused the bells in the chapel tower to be rung, 
and the cannon to be discharged, this being the usual method 
of convocating the people at an unusual hour, or for some 
special purpose, so everything was suspended just there—the 
husbandman left his plow standing in the half-turned furrow, 
and unloosed his oxen, never again to yoke them, leaving them 
to wander at will over the fields; the mechanic dropped his 
planes and saws on the bench, leaving the half-smoothed board 
still in the vise; the tanner left his tools where he was usino- 

O 

them, and doffed his apron to don it no more in the State of 
California. 

As soon as the population had assembled, Rotscheff arose and 
read the orders. Very sad and unwelcome, indeed, was this 
intelligence; but the edict had emanated from a source which 
could not be gainsaid, and the only alternative was a speedy 
and complete compliance, however reluctant it might be—and 
thus 400 people were made homeless by the fiat of a single 
word. Time was only given to gather up a few household 
effects. 
































NUMEROUS SETTLERS BEGIN TO ARRIVE. 


37 


Foreigners Begin to Come. 

The early success of the missions advertised the attractive¬ 
ness of California to the world. It became known not only 
in Mexico, but through the early adventurers and traders, in 
the United States. They not only traded in hides and tallow, 
but told the story of the mission wealth—the herds and flocks 
and fruits, and they told of the furs to be procured. 

The valleys of California were, during the early part of this 
century, occupied and traversed by bands of trappers in the 
employ of the American and foreign fur companies. The sto¬ 
ries of their wanderings and experiences are mostly related in 
the form of sensational novels, whose authenticity and accu¬ 
racy must be taken with a great degree of allowance. 

Few records concerning these fur hunters remain which are 
within the reach of the historian, and the information given 
has been gleaned, in part, from personal interviews with those 
whose knowledge of the subject was gained by actual experi¬ 
ence or by a personal acquaintance with those who belonged to 
the parties. In many cases their stories differ widely in regard 
to facts and names. 

We here give the date of arrival of some of the most im¬ 
portant of the pioneers, and incidents connected with their 
movements. 

1814.—John Gilroy arrived at Monterey on the 5th of Feb 
ruai’y, 1814. His baptismal name was John Cameron; but he 
assumed the name of John Gilroy in consequence of certain 
circumstances connected with his birth. 

He spent most of his life around Monterey, and resided at 
what is called “ Old Gilroy,” a short distance from Gilroy, in 
Santa Clara County, which places are named from him. 

UPPER SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY EXPLORED. 

1820.—As early as this date, Tulare, San Joaquin and Sac¬ 
ramento Valleys were occupied by trappers, who had wandered 
there while searching for the Columbia River. Captain Sutter, 
in 1834, while in New Mexico, heard from these California 
trappers, of the Sacramento Valley, which afterwards became 
so reputed as his home. The disputes arising in regard to the 
occupation of the northern part of the Pacific Coast trapping- 
region in Oregon, led the American hunters to occupy the ter¬ 
ritory in and about the Rocky Mountains. 

A TOUCHING LITTLE EPISODE. 

1822.—About the year 1822, an Englishman landed at Santa 
Cruz, known by the name of William Thompson. He is em¬ 
ployed in the hide buisness. There is a touching little story 
connected with him. His native place was London. His 
father was a sail-maker. And there lived the family— 
mother, brothers, sisters and all. William went to sea. The}' 
parted with him with regret and sorrow, and after a time the}' 
ceased to hear from him. Years went by and they could get 


no tidings of him. The family grieved; and the mother pined 
for her son. But time went on, and no tidings came. By and 
by his brother Samuel proposed to go in search of him. Though 
he did not know where on the globe he might be, if still alive, 
yet he thought he could go to sea, and make voyages to differ¬ 
ent parts, and somewhere fall in with him, or hear of him. His 
plan was agreed to, and he started. Just how long he sailed, 
and where he went, is unknown; but after a while he was 
on a ship that came into the port of Santa Cruz. Here was 
anchored, at that time, another ship, taking on board a cargo 
of hides. 

Samuel then came ashore and inquired for the captain of 
that ship. When he found him, he asked him if among his 
crew there was one William Thompson. The captain said he 
didn’t know certainly whether he had a man by that name 
“ but there the men are,” said he, pointing to them at work on 
the beach, carrying hides, “ you can go and see.” Samuel 
went, and the very first man he met was William! We can 
imagine Samuel’s joy at the meeting, after so long a search; 
and the joy, also, that the account of it caused in that home in 
London, when it reached there. But it appears, instead of 
Samuel getting William to go home, that they both remained 
on this coast. They shipped together and went down to South 
America, and then returned to Santa Cruz. 

STRANGE MEETING ON THE MERCED. 

1823. —The Ashley expedition was fitted out in 1823, at St. 
Louis, for the fur trade. This party entered the San Joaquin 
Valley, and hunted and trapped along the Merced, Stanislaus 
and Tuolumne Rivers. 

Belonging to this company was Joshua Griffith and William 
Hawkins, who met first at St. Louis, and afterwards hunted in 
the San Joaquin Valley. 

Years rolled on and they were widely separated, and after 
many vicissitudes, of wild adventure, through scenes of peril, 
among hostile Indians and various hair-breadth escapes— 
strange to say, we find them after years had passed away, 
in 1874, settled down to quiet life, each with a family, on the 
Merced River, which locality seems to have impressed them as 
the choicest of the State. They were living there as late as 
1878. 

Captain Juan B. R. Cooper came to Monterey in 1823, 
and obtained a license to hunt otters, as also did some others. 

1824. —Santiago McKinly, a native of Scotland, arrived in 
Los Angeles during the year 1824. He was at that time 
twenty-one years of age. He became a merchant, and his 
name appears on a list of foreigners resident in Los Angeles in 
1836, now on file in the city archives. He afterwards went to 
Monterey, and was reported dead some years ago. 

From Scotland came David Spence, in 1824, with the 
view of establishing a packing house in Monterey for a Lima 
firm. 









40 


SETTLERS ORDERED TO LEAVE CALIFORNIA. 


down the Mary’s or Humboldt River for California, over a 
country entirely unknown to the trappers. They discovered 
Truckee, Carson and Walker Rivers, Donner Lake and Walk¬ 
er’s Pass, through which they went and pitched their camp for 
the winter on the shore of Tulare Lake, in December, 1833. 

FIRST AMERICAN RESIDENTS IN S4N FRANCISCO. 

1835. —William A. Richardson moved from Saucelito to 
Yerba Buena (San Francisco), opened a store, and began trad¬ 
ing in hides and tallow in the summer of 1835. 

1836. —Jacob P. Leese, for a number of years a resident of 
Los Angeles, in July, 1836, built a store in Yerba Buena. He 
had previously met many obstacles in obtaining a grant of 
land upon which to locate the building, but by the authority of 
Governor Chico, this was finally effected. 

Previous to the location of Richardson and Leese, the only 
inhabitants of the pueblo and mission at Yerba Buena were 
Spaniards, Mexicans and Indians. 

EARLY IMMIGRATION SOCIETIES. 

1837. —As early as 1837 several societies were organized in 
the American States to promote immigration to the Pacific Coast. 
During that and ensuing years, thousands of emigrants jour¬ 
neyed across the rocky and snowy mountains, enduring 
toils and hardships indescribable, to settle in California and 
Oregon. Others came by the way of Mexico or Cape Horn, 
and soon the valleys of the northern rivers were peopled by 
American agriculturists; and the southern and coast towns by 
American traders, who speedily monopolized the whole busi¬ 
ness of the country, and even in some communities formed 
the numerical strength of the white population. 

The Mexican Congress, feeling that California was about to 
slip from their country as Texas had done before, passed laws 
against the intrusion of foreigners; but there was no power in 
the State competent to put these edicts into execution. 

We have mentioned a few of the early pioneers so as to give 
an idea of the extent and kind of settlers up to about 1840, at 
which time numerous companies of settlers arrived, and we 
shall now only mention those of the most importance, and who 
took an active part in political affairs. 

FIRST SAW-MILL ERECTED. 

1833.—Isaac Graham came from Hardin County, Kentucky, 
to California in 1833. He settled near Monterey, and his 
name is intimately associated with Santa Cruz and vicinity. 

It is said that he erected on the San Lorenzo, somewhere in 
the neighborhood of where the powder works now are, the first 
saw-mill in California. 

Early in life he went to New Mexico, and Benjamin D. Wil¬ 
son met him at Taos. Mr. Wilson has described him as beino- 
at that time a very disreputable character. He also says that 
Graham left a family in Tennessee, being obliged to flee that 


State to escape the consequences of some offense he had com¬ 
mitted. 

He reached Los Angeles in company with Henry Naile about 
1835, and remained there until the following year, when he 
removed to “ Natividad,” Monterey County, and (according to 
Mr. Wilson) ‘'established a small distillery in a tide hut which 
soon became a nuisance owing to the disreputable character of 
those who frequented it.” 

Graham was a brave and adventurous man, a thorough fron¬ 
tiersman, at home with his rifle in his hand, and this had 
become known to the native officials in Monterey. 

When, in 1836, Juan B. Alvarado, a subordinate customs 
officer, was plotting revolution and contemplated the expulsion 
of Governor Guiterrez, he came to Graham and sought his 
assistance, and that of the foreigners who acted with him in 
the matter. 

INDEPENDENCE OF MEXICO CONTEMPLATED. 

On condition that all connection with Mexico should be sev¬ 
ered, and that California should become independent, the assist¬ 
ance of Graham and others was promised, and in due time it 
was rendered. And by means of it Guiterrez was sent away, 
and Alvarado and his party soon became masters of the situa¬ 
tion. Now was the time for the fulfillment of the promise 
of independence of Mexico, but Mexico, instead of punishing 
Alvarado, proposes to confirm him in his usurped authority. 
Alvarado, pleased and flattered by this, quickly breaks his 
pi’omise to Graham, but in so doing, he feels a wholesome fear 
of those rifles, by the assistance of which he had himself gained 
his promotion. 

His first care seems to have been to disable that little force 
of foreigners, and to put it out of their power to punish his 
breach of faith. 

GENERAL ARREST OF FOREIGNERS. 

1840.—Orders are sent out secretly to all the Alcaldes in this 
part of the country simultaneously, on a certain night to 
arrest foreigners and bring them to Monterey. Jose Castro 
himself heads the party for the arrest of Graham. 

It was on the morning of the 7th of April, 1840, before 
light, that the party reached Graham’s dwelling. They broke in 
the doors and shattered the windows, firing at the inmates as 
they saw them rising from their beds. One of the assailants 
thinking to make sure of Graham himself, discharged a pair of 
pistols aimed at his heart, the muzzles touching his cloak, 
which he had hastily thrown over his shoulders. 

This assassin was amazingly surprised afterwards on seeing 
Graham alive, and he could not account for it till he examined 
his holsters, then he found the reason. There, sure enough, 
were the balls in the holsters! The pistols had been badly 
loaded, and that it was that saved Isaac Graham from instant 
death. 








BIOGRAPHIES OF PIONEER SETTLERS. 


39 


FIRST SCHOONER BUILT. 


FIRST ENGLISH HISTORIAN OF CALIFORNIA. 


1831. —William Wolfskill was bora March 20, 1798, near 
Richmond, Kentucky. Until the year 1831 he roamed through 
the great West as a hunter and trapper. In February of that 
year he reached Los Angeles with a number of others, and 
here the party broke up. Aided by Friar Sanchez, then in 
charge of San Gabriel Mission, he, in company with Nathaniel 
Pryor, Richard Laughlin, Samuel Prentiss, and George Young, 
late of Napa County, (all Americans) built a schooner at San 
Pedro for the purpose of hunting sea-otter. 

FIRST BILLIARD TABLES MADE. 

1832. —Joseph Pawlding was a native of Maryland, and en¬ 
tered California from New Mexico in the winter of 1832-33, by 
way of the Gila River. He afterwards traveled a good deal in 
both countries. He was a carpenter by trade, and made the 
first two billiard tables ever made in California; the first for 
George Rice, and the second for John Rhea. He died at Los 
Angeles, June 2, 1860. 

HUNTERS AND TRAPPERS OF 1S32. 

About the middle of 1832 another band of trappers, 
under Michael Laframboise, came into San Joaquin Valley 
from the north, and until the next spring spent the time in 
trapping on the streams flowing through the great valley. 
The Hudson Bay Company continued sending out its employes ; 
into this region until about the year 1845. Their trappers in 
California belonged to the “ Southern Trapping Party of the 
Hudson Bay Company,” and were divided into smaller parties 



trapping was carried on during the winter in order to secure 
a good class of furs. 

The free trappers were paid ten shillings sterling for a prime 
beaver skin, while the Indians received a moderate compensa¬ 
tion for their services. 

' The outfits and portions of their food were purchased from 
the company. 

HUDSON BAY COMPANY. 

The Hudson Bay Company employed about ninety or 
one hundred men in this State. The greater part of the In¬ 
dians were fugitives from the missions, and were honest and 
peaceably inclined, from the fact that it was mainly to their 
interest to be so. 

From 1832 the chief rendezvous was at French Camp, about 
five miles south of Stockton. About 1841, the company 
bought of Jacob P. Leese, the building he had erected for a 
store in San Francisco, and made that their business center for 
this territory. 

The agents were Alexander Forbes and William G. Ray. 
The latter committed suicide in 1845. His death, and the 
scarcity of beaver and otter, caused the company to wind up 
their agency and business in the territory. 


Alexander Forbes was for a long series of years the British 
Consul at San Francisco, and by his genial manners, superior 
culture, and finished education, made a record which places 
him among the noted men of the State. This gentleman re¬ 
sided in Oakland; and, although seventy-five years of age, 
his faculties were as strong as ever. His memory was wonder¬ 
ful, and the power of retention, with the vast fund of knowl¬ 
edge possessed, has been of great service to the historian. He 
had the honor of being the first English historian of California, 
his “ California,” published in London in 1839, being written 
in Mexico four years previous to the date of its publication. 
He died in 1879. 

In 1832 came Thomas O. Larkin from Boston, intend¬ 
ing to manufacture flour. Mr. Larkin’s home was in Mon¬ 
terey, and he probably did far more to bring California under 
the United States flag than any other man. 

1833.—James Peace, a Scotchman, came into the country in 
1833, having left a ship of the Hudson Bay Company. He 
was of a somewhat roving disposition, and became acquainted 
with all the earlier pioneers from Monterey to the Sonoma 
District. Was with his countryman, John Gilroy, in Santa 
Clara County; was with Robert Livermore, an English seaman, 
who settled and gave the name to the Livermore Valley in Ala 
meda County, and was at New Helvetia, the establishment of 
General Sutter. 

FIRST CAMPERS ON TULARE LAKE. 

Stephen Hall Meek, the famous hunter and trapper, who 
now resides on Scott Creek in Siskiyou County, spent the win¬ 
ter of 1833 on the shores of Tulare Lake. He is the only one 
of the large trapping party now living who wintered there. 

There is probably not now living a mountain man who has 
had so varied an experience and so many wild adventures, hair¬ 
breadth escapes and battles with savage animals and no less 
savage men, as the veteran trapper, Stephen H. Meek. He 
was born in Washington County, Virginia, on the Fourth of 
July, 1807, and is a relative of President Polk. He attended 
the common schools of the day when young. When scarcely 
twenty years of age he became imbued with that restless spirit 
of adventure that has since been a marked characteristic of his 
[ife, and left his home for the then comparatively unknown 
West. 

We have not space to relate his travels all over California 
and Oregon. In the spring of 1831 the party went up a trib¬ 
utary of the Yellowstone; then to Green River, and finally 
wintered on Snake River, where Fort Hall was afterwards 
built. In the spring he trapped Salmon, Snake and Poin 
Neuf, and then went to Green River rendezvous. There he 
hired to Capt. B. L. E. Bonneville to accompany an expedi¬ 
tion of thirty-four men under Joseph Walker to explore the 
i Great Salt Lake. They got too far west and finally started 












40 


SETTLERS ORDERED TO LEAVE CALIFORNIA. 


down the Mary’s or Humboldt River for California, ovei a 
country entirely unknown to the trappers. They discovered 
Truckee, Carson and Walker Rivers, Donner Lake and V alk- 
er’s Pass, through which they went and pitched their camp for 
the winter on the shore of Tulare Lake, in December, 1833. 

FIRST AMERICAN RESIDENTS IN SAN FRANCISCO. 

1835. —William A. Richardson moved from Saucelito to 
Yerba Buena (San Francisco), opened a store, and began trad¬ 
ing in hides and tallow in the summer of 1835. 

1836. —Jacob P. Leese, for a number of years a resident of 
Los Angeles, in July, 1836, built a store in Yerba Buena. He 
had previously met many obstacles in obtaining a grant of 
land upon which to locate the building, but by the authority of 
Governor Chico, this was finally effected. 

Previous to the location of Richardson and Leese, the only 
inhabitants of the pueblo and mission at Yerba Buena were 
Spaniards, Mexicans and Indians. 

EARLY IMMIGRATION SOCIETIES. 

1837. —As early as 1837 several societies were organized in 
the American States to promote immigration to the Pacific Coast. 
During that and ensuing years, thousands of emigrants jour¬ 
neyed across the rocky and snowy mountains, enduring 
toils and hardships indescribable, to settle in California and 
Oregon. Others came by the way of Mexico or Cape Horn, 
and soon the valleys of the northern rivers were peopled by 
American agriculturists; and the southern and coast towns by 
American traders, who speedily monopolized the whole busi¬ 
ness of the country, and even in some communities formed 
the numerical strength of the white population. 

The Mexican Congress, feeling that California was about to 
slip from their country as Texas had done before, passed laws 
against the intrusion of foreigners; but there was no power in 
the State competent to put these edicts into execution. 

We have mentioned a few of the early pioneers so as to give 
an idea of the extent and kind of settlers up to about 1840, at 
which time numerous companies of settlers arrived, and we 
shall now only mention those of the most importance, and who 
took an active part in political affairs. 

FIRST SAW-MILL ERECTED. 

1833.—Isaac Graham came from Hardin County, Kentucky, 
to California in 1833. He settled near Monterey, and his 
name is intimately associated with Santa Cruz and vicinity. 

It is said that he erected on the San Lorenzo, somewhere in 
the neighborhood of where the powder works now are, the first 
saw-mill in California. 

Early in life he went to New Mexico, and Benjamin D. Wil¬ 
son met him at Taos. Mr. Wilson has described him as being 
at that time a very disreputable character. He also says that 
Graham left a family in Tennessee, being obliged to flee that 


State to escape the consequences of some offense he had com¬ 
mitted. 

He reached Los Angeles in company with Henry Naile about 
1835, and remained there until the following year, when he 
removed to “ Natividad,” Monterey County, and (according to 
Mr. Wilson) “established a small distillery in a tide hut which 
soon became a nuisance owing to the disreputable character of 
those who frequented it.’ 

Graham was a brave and adventurous man, a thorough fron¬ 
tiersman, at home with his rifle in his hand, and this had 
become known to the native officials in Monterey. 

When, in 1836, Juan B. Alvarado, a subordinate customs 
officer, was plotting revolution and contemplated the expulsion 
of Governor Guiterrez, he came to Graham and sought his 
assistance, and that of the foreigners who acted with him in 
the matter. 

INDEPENDENCE OF MEXICO CONTEMPLATED. 

On condition that all connection with Mexico should be sev¬ 
ered, and that California should become independent, the assist¬ 
ance of Graham and others was promised, and in due time it 
was rendered. And by means of it Guiterrez was sent away, 
and Alvarado and his party soon became masters of the situa¬ 
tion. Now was the time for the fulfillment of the promise 
of independence of Mexico, but Mexico, instead of punishing 
Alvarado, proposes to confirm him in his usurped authority. 
Alvarado, pleased and flattered by this, quickly breaks his 
promise to Graham, but in so doing, he feels a wholesome feat 
of those rifles, by the assistance of which he had himself gained 
his promotion. 

His first care seems to have been to disable that little force 
of foreigners, and to put it out of their power to punish his 
breach of faith. 

GENERAL ARREST OF FOREIGNERS. 

1840.—Orders are sent out secretly to all the Alcaldes in this 
part of the country simultaneously, on a certain night to 
arrest foreigners and bring them to Monterey. Jose Castro 
himself heads the party for the arrest of Graham. 

It was on the morning of the 7th of April, 1840, before 
light, that the party reached Graham’s dwelling. They broke in 
the doors and shattered the windows, firing at the inmates as 
they saw them rising from their beds. One of the assailants 
thinking to make sure of Graham himself, discharged a pair of 
pistols aimed at his heart, the muzzles touching his cloak, 
which he had hastily thrown over his shoulders. 

This assassin was amazingly surprised afterwards on seeing 
Graham alive, and he could not account for it till he examined 
his holsters, then he found the reason. There, sure enough, 
were the balls in the holsters! The pistols had been badly 
loaded, and that it was that saved Isaac Graham from instant 
death. 





























































































CAPTURE AND IMPRISONMENT OF SETTLERS. 


41 


He was however hurried to Monterey and placed in confine¬ 
ment, as also were other foreigners, arrested on that same night. 

What followed is best told in a memorial which these same 
prisoners afterwards addressed to the Government of the 
United States, asking that Mexico be required to restore their 
property, and compensate them for their injuries and lost time. 

We quote from an unpublished manuscript, which Rev. S. 
H. Willey obtained in Monterey in 1849, and furnished for 
publication in Elliott’s History of Monterey. 

APPEAL TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 

Monterey, November, 1842. 

To his Excellency, John Tyler , President of the United States: 

“ On the morning of the seventh of April, one thousand eight 
hundred and forty, we, your petitioners, citizens of the United 
States of North America, and many more of our countrymen, 
together with several of H. B. M. subjects, engaged in busi¬ 
ness in Monterey and its vicinity, were, without any just cause 
or provocation, most illegally seized and taken from our lawful 
occupation, (many being married to natives of the country), and 
incarcerated in a loathsome prison in Monterey. The number 
was subsequently increased by the arrival of others for the 
space of some ten or twelve days. No warrant or civil process 
was either read or shown to them (at the time of their seizure) 
nor has the Government of California conceded to this present 
day in any official manner, why or wherefore that our persons 
were thus seized, our property taken from us, what crime we 
had committed, and why transported like so many criminals 
to a province in Mexico. 

“ The perpetrators of this most outrageous action against 
the rights and privileges allowed to American citizens (accord¬ 
ing to treaty) were principally officers and soldiers appertaining 
to this Government and acting by authority and command (as 
the undersigns have heard and firmly believe), of his Excel¬ 
lency, Don Juan Bautista Alvarado. Governor of the two Cal- 
iformas. 

“ Some of us were marched on foot to prison, some forced to 
go on their own animals, and, on their arrival at the prison 
door, said animals and equipments taken from them, including 
what was found in their pockets, and with menacing, thrust 
into prison. The room in which we were confined, being about 
twenty feet square, without being floored, became very damp 
and offensive, thereby endangering our health, at times. One 
had to stand while another slept, and during the first three 
days not a mouthful of food found or offered us by our 
oppressors, but living on the charity of them that pitied us. 

“To our countryman, Mr. Thomas O. Larkin, we are bound 
in conscience to acknowledge that he assisted us not only in 
food, but in what other necessaries we at the time stood in need 
of and what was allowed to be introduced; some of us were 
taken out of prison from time to time and released by the 
intercession of friends or through sickness. 


PRISONERS EXAMINED BY THE AUTHORITIES. 

“ Eight of the prisoners were separately called upon and 
examined by the authorities of Monterey, having as interpreter, 
a native of the country (who himself fi'equently needs in his 
occupation one to interpret for him), there being at the same 
time, men far more equivalent for the purpose than he was, 
but they were not permitted; the above-mentioned eight were, 
after examination, taken to another apartment and thei’e man¬ 
acled to an iron bar during their imprisonment in this port. 
After fifteen days’ confinement, we were sent on board of a 
vessel bearing the Mexican flag, every six men being shackled 
to an iron bar, and in that condition put into the hold of said 
vessel and taken to Santa Barbara, a sea-port of this province, 
and there again imprisoned in company with the mate of an 
American vessel, recently arrived from Boston, in the United 
States, (and part of the crew) said vessel being sold to a 
Mexican, l-esident in this territory, without, as before mentioned, 
any just or legal cause being assigned, why or wherefore. 

“ On arriving at Santa Barbara, we were landed and taken 
some distance; three of us in irons were put into an ox-cart, 
the remainder on foot; among the latter some were chained in 
pairs, in consequence reached the prison with much difficultv. 
Here we were put into a room without light or means of air 
entering only through a small hole in the roof. For the first 
twenty-four hours we were not allowed food or water, although 
we had been some time walking in a warm sun. One of the 
prisoners became so completely prostrated, that for some time 
he could not speak, nor swallow when water was brought to 
him, and would have expired but for the exertions of a Doctor 
Den, an Irish gentleman living in the town who, with much 
difficulty, obtained admittance to the sufferer. By his influence 
and some Americans in the place, food and water were at last 
sent us. 

“ In Santa Barbara our number was increased by the addi¬ 
tion of more of our countrymen; some of those brought from 
Monterey were discharged and received passports to return; 
the remainder were inarched to the beach, again put in the hold 
of a vessel (in irons), and in this manner taken to the port of 
San Bias, landed, and from thence, in the midsummer of a 
tropical climate, marched on foot sixty miles to the city of 
Tepic, and there imprisoned. Some time after our arrival we 
were discharged by the Mexican Governor, and in the space of 
four hundred and fifty-five days from the commencement of 
our imprisonment, we again returned to Monterey. From the 
day we were taken up until our return we had no opportunity 
to take care of our property; we were not even allowed, when 
ordered on board in Monterey, to send for a single garment of 
clothing, nor permitted to carry any into the prison, but such as 
we had on; and not once during our said imprisonment in 
Monterey, although in a filthy and emaciated condition, per¬ 
mitted to shave or wash ourselves. 










42 


SETTLERS RELEASED AND INDEMNIFIED. 


“ When in prison, in the .hold of the vessel, and on our 
march, we were frequently threatened, pricked and struck 
with swords by the subaltern officers of the Mexican Govern¬ 
ment. 


California, signed and issued the following proclamation, which 
is a curiosity in itself and illustrative of the men and the 
times:— 

A SPECIMEN PROCLAMATION. 


SUFFERINGS OF THE PRISONERS. 


“ Our sufferings in prison, on board ship, and when drove on 
foot in a warm sun, then ordered to sleep out at night in the 
dew, after being exhausted by the heat and dust, surpass our 
power of description, and none but those who were with us 
can realize or form a just conception of our distressed situation. 

“For many weeks we were fed in a manner different from the 
common mode, kept in a filthy and disgusting condition, which, 
combined with the unhealthy state of the country where we 
were taken to, has caused death to some, and rendered unhealthy 
for life, others of our companions. * * * * 

“ Since our return to California from our confinement in 
Mexico, Captains Forest and Aulick have visited this port at 
different periods, in command of United States vessels. Each 
of those gentlemen took up the subject of our claims and ill- 
treatment, and, as we believe, received fair promise from the 
Governor of the province; but the stay of those officers at 
Monterey having been limited to a few days only, was entirely 
too short to effect any good. The Governor’s promise, orally, 
made by a deputy to Captain Aulick, on the eve of his depart¬ 
ure, so far from being complied with or adhered to, was, as we 
have reason to believe, abrogated by his orders to Alcaldes, not 
to listen to the complaints of Americans, i. e., citizens of the 
United States. ****** 

We, the undersigned, citizens of the United States, afore¬ 
said, were among the prisoners, some of us to the last day, and 
have never given provocation to the Mexican Government for 
such cruel treatment, nor do we know of any given by our 
companions, and respectfully submit to your notice, the forego¬ 
ing statement of facts, in hopes that through your means, this 
affair will be fully represented, so that the Government of the 
United States will take prompt measures to secure to us 
indemnity for the past, and security for the future, according 
to the rights and privileges guaranteed to us by treaty, existing 


between our Government and Mexico. 


William Barton, 
Alvin Wilson, 
Charles H. Cooper, 
Ambrose Z. Tomilson, 
Henry Naile. 


“Isaac Graham, 

“ William Chard, 

“Joseph L. Majors, 

“Charles Brown, 

“William Hance, 

“Monterey, Upper California, the Oth of November, 1842.” 

Two years later these persons were returned to California, the 
charges not having been proven; and Mexico was obliged to 
pay them a heavy idemnity to avoid serious complication with 
the American Government. All these died several years ago. 

It appeal’s that after Alvai'ado, Castro and company, had 
got their dreaded company of foreigners in confinement on 
board a vessel ready to sail to Mexico, seven citizens of note, of 


“ Proclamation made by the Undersigned. Eternal Gloi-y 
to the Illustrious Champion and Libei’ator of the Department 
of Alta California, Don Jose Castro, the Guardian of Order, 
and the Supporter of our Superior Government. 

“ Fellow-Citizens and Friends: To-day, the eighth of May, 
of the pi’esent year of 1840, has been and will be eternally 
glorious to all the inhabitants of this soil, in contemplating the 
glorious expedition of our fellow-counti’yman, Don Jose Castro, 
who goes to pi’esent himself before the Superior Government 
of the Mexican nation, carrying with him a number of suspi¬ 
cious Americans, who under the mask of deceit, and filled with 
ambition, were warping us in a web of misfortune; plunging 
us into the greatest confusion and danger; desiring to terminate 
the life of our Governor and all his subalterns; and, finally, to 
drive us from our asylums; from our country: from our pleas¬ 
ures, and from our hearths. 

“ The bark which carries this valorous hero on his "rand 
commission goes filled with laurels and crowned with triumphs, 
ploughing the vaves and publishing in distinct voices to the 
passing billows the loud vivas and rejoicings which will resound, 
to the remotest bounds of the universe. Yes, fellow-citizens 
and friends, again we say, that this glorious Chief should have 
a place in the innermost recesses of our hearts, and in the name 
of all the inhabitants, make known the great rejoicings with 
which we are filled, giving, at the same time, to our Superior 
Government the present proclamation, which we make for said 
worthy Chief; and that our Governor may remain satisfied, that 
if he (Castro) has embarked for the interior of the Republic, 
there still remain under his (the Governor’s) orders all his fel¬ 
low-countrymen, companions in arms, etc., etc.” 

DISAPPOINTMENT AND HUMILIATION. 

But a great disappointment awaited this heralded hero on 
his arrival in Mexico. We find the description of it in another 
manuscript, as follows:— 

“ Commandant Castro and his three or four official friends 
rode into Tepic in triumph, as they thought, and inquired for 
the house of the Governor. On their arrival at his Excellency’s 
they were refused admittance and ordered to go to prison, which 
one of them said could not be compared in comfort to the 
meanest jail or hole in all California. Here they had time to 
reflect on their scandalous conduct to so many human beings. 
Castro was then ordered to the City of Mexico and tried for his 
life, Mr. Packenham, the English Minister, having every hope 
of his being sent a prisoner for life to the prison of San Juan 
de Uloa in Vera Cruz. The culprit himself afterwards con¬ 
fessed that such would have been his fate had Mr. Ellis, the 
American Minister, exerted himself equally with Packenham. 











FIRST SETTLERS IN SAN JOAQUIN YALLEY. 


43 


“After an absence of two years and expending eight or ten 
thousand dollars, he returned to California a wiser and better 
man than when he left it, and never was afterwards known to 
raise a hand or voice against a foreigner. His officers and 
soldiers returned to California in the best manner they could, 
leaving their country as jailers and returning prisoners.” 

FIRST SETTLERS IN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. 

1835.—Dr. John Marsh arrived at the foot of Mount Diablo 
and purchased the “Ranchos losMeganos” in 1837, of three 
square leagues of land, and settled upon it in the same year, 
and occupied it afterwards until his death, which occurred in 
1856. The doctor lived in a small adobe house near where he 
afterwards constructed what is known as the “ Marsh Stone 
House.” So that the doctor was the first born native American 
citizen who ever resided permanently in that section. It would 
be difficult now to conceive of a more lonely and inhospitable 
place to live. 

Until about 1847, Dr. Marsh had no American neighbors 
nearer than within about forty miles, and dwellings on adjoin¬ 
ing Spanish ranches were from twelve to fifteen miles distant. 

All early emigrant parties made Dr. Marsh’s ranch an object¬ 
ive point, as it was so easily sighted, being at the foot of Mount 
Diablo. All parties met with a cordial reception. 

Sutter’s Fort and Marsh’s Ranch were the two prominent 
settlements in northern California at that date. Dr. Marsh was 
an educated man and an able writer, as will be seen from the 
following letter. 

DR. JOHN MARSH TO HON. LEWIS CASS.* 

Farm of Pulpunes, near St. Francisco, | 
Upper California, 1844. J 

“ Hon. Lewis Cass —Dear Sir: You will probably be some¬ 
what surprised to receive a letter from an individual from whom 
you have not heard, or even thought of, for nearly twenty 
years; yet although the lapse of time has wrought many changes, 
both in men and things, the personal identity of us both has 
probably been left. You will, I think, remember a youth whom 
you met at Green Bay in 1825, who, having left his Alma 
Mater, had spent a year or two in the “ far, far, West,” and was 
then returning to his New England home, and whom you 
induced to turn his face again toward the setting sun; that 
youth who, but for your influence, would probably now have 
been administering pills in some quiet \ ankee village, is now a 
gray-haired man, breeding cattle and cultivating grape-vines 
on the shores of the Pacific. Your benevolence prompted you 
to take an interest in the fortunes of that youth, and it is there¬ 
fore presumed you may not be unwilling to hear from him 

again. _ 

*Thia interesting letter descriptive of California did much to call public 
attention to this then unknown region. The letter was written from the 
Marsh Grant, at the foot of Mount Diablo, in Contra Costa County, and pub¬ 
lished in Elliott’s History of Contra Costa County. 


“ I left the United States in 1835, and came to New Mexico, 
and thence traversing the States of Chihuahua and Sonora 
crossed the Rio Colorado at its j unction with the Gila, near the 
tide-water of Gulph, and entered this territory at its southern 
part. Any more direct route was at that time unknown and 
considered impracticable. 

FIRST SAN JOAQUIN RANCH. 

“ I have now been more than ten years in this country, and 
have traveled over all the inhabited and most of the uninhab¬ 
ited parts of it. I have resided eight years where I now live, 
near the Bay of San Francisco, and at the point where the 
rivers Sacramento and San Joaquin unite together to meet the 
tide-water of the bay, about forty miles from the ocean, I 
possess at this place a farm about ten miles by twelve in extent 
one side of which borders on the river, which is navigable to 
this point for sea-going vessels. I have at last found the far 
West, and intend to end my ramblings here. * * 



Mt. Diablo. Tulks on Fibs. 

View or Sax Joaquin River by Moonlight. 


“The Government of the United States, in encouraging and 
facilitating immigration to Oregon is, in fact, helping to people 
California. It is like the British Government sending settlers 
to Canada. The emigrants are well aware of the vast superi¬ 
ority of California, both in soil and climate, and I may add, 
facility of access. Every year shorter and better routes are 
being discovered, and this year the great desideratum of a good 
and practical road for wheel carriages has been found. Fifty- 
three wagons, with that mumber of families, have arrived safely, 
and more than a month earlier than any previous company. 
The American Government encourages immigration to Oregon 
by giving gratuitously some five or six hundred acres of land to 
each family of actual settlers. California, too, gives lands, not 
by acres, but by leagues, and has some thousands of leagues more 
to give to anybody who will occupy them. Never in any 
instance has less than one league been given to any individual 

























44 


AN EARLY DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 


and the wide world from which to select from all the unoccu¬ 
pied lands in the territory. While Colonel Almonte, the Mexican 
Minister to Washington, is publishing his proclamations in the 
American newspapers forbidding people to immigrate to Cali¬ 
fornia, and telling them that no lands will be given them, the 
actual Government here is doing just the contrary. In fact 
they care about as much for the Government of Mexico as for 
that of Japan. ***** * * * 

EARLY IMPRESSIONS OF CLIMATE. 

“ The climate of California is remarkably different from that 
of the United States. The great distinguishing difference is its 
regularity and uniformity. From May to October the wind is 
invariably from the northwest, and during this time it never 
rains, and the sky is brilliantly clear and serene. The weather 
during this time is temperate, and rarely oppressively warm. 
The nights are always agreeably cool, and man}' of the inhab¬ 
itants sleep in the open air the whole year round. From 
October to May the southeast wind frequently blows, and is 
always accompanied by rain. Snow never falls excepting in 
the mountains. Frost is rare except in December or January. 
A proof of the mildness of the winter this moment presents 
itself in the shape of a humming-bird, which I just saw from 
the open window, and this is in latitude 38° on the first day of 
February. Wheat is sown from October until March, and 
maize from March until July. As respects human health and 
comfort, the climate is itncomparably better than that of any 
part of the United States. It is much the most healthy country 
I have ever seen or have any knowledge of. There is no dis¬ 
ease whatever that can be attributed to the influence of the 
climate. 

“ The face of the country differs as much from the United 
States as the climate. The whole territory is traversed by 
ranges of mountains, which run parallel to each other and to 
the coast. The highest points may be about 6,000 feet above the 
sea, in most places much lower, and in many parts they dwindle 
to low hills. They are everywhere covered with grass and 
vegetation, and many of the valleys and northern declivities 
abound with the finest timber trees. Between these ranees of 
mountains are level valleys, or rather plains of every width, 
from five miles to fifty. The magnificent valley through which 
flows the rivers San Joaquin and Sacramento is 500 miles long, 
with an average of widtn of forty or fifty. It is intersected 
laterally by many smaller rivers, abounding with salmon. 

The only inhabitants of this valley, which is capable of 
supporting a nation, are about 150 Americans and a few 
Indians. No published maps that I have seen give any correct 
idea of the country, excepting the outline of the coast. 


opposite directions, and each about fifty miles long, with an 
average width of eight or ten. It is perfectly sheltered from 
every wind, has great depth of water, is easily accessible at all 
times, and space enough for half the ships in the world. The 
entrance is less than a mile wide, and could be easily fortified 
so as to make it entirely inpregnable. The vicinity abounds 
in the finest timber for ship-building, and in fact everything 
necessary to make it a great naval and commercial depot. If 
it were in the hands of a nation who knew how to make use of 
j it, its influence would soon be felt on all the western coast of 
America, and probably through the whole Pacific. * * * 

“ The agricultural capabilities of California are but very 
imperfectly developed. The whole of it is remarkably adapted 
to the culture of the vine. Wine and brandy of excellent 
quality are made in considerable quantities. Olives, figs and 
almonds grow well. Apples, pears and peaches are abundant, 
and in the southern part, oranges. Cotton is beginning to be 
cultivated, and succeeds well. It is the finest country for wheat 
i I have ever seen. Fifty for one is an average crop, with very 
imperfect cultivation. One hundred fold is not uncommon, and 
even 150 has been produced. Maize produces tolerably well 
; but not equal to some parts of the United States. Hemp, flax 
and tobacco have been cultivated on a small scale, and succeed 
well. The raising of cattle is the principal pursuit of the 
I inhabitants, and the most profitable. 

PIONEERS ESTIMATE ON CALIFORNIA. 

The foreign commerce of Upper California employs from ten to 
fifteen sail of vessels, mostly large ships. SomeAvhat more than 
half of these are American, and belong exclusively to the port 
of Boston. The others are English, French, Russian, Mexican, 
Peruvian and Hawaiian. The French from their islands in 
the Pacific and the Russians from Kamtschatka, and their 
establishments on the northwest coast, resort here for provis¬ 
ions and live-stock. The exports consist of hides and tallow, 
cows, lard, wheat, soap, timber and furs. There are slaughtered 
annually about 100,000 head of cattle, worth $800,000. The 
whole value of the exports annually amounts to about $1,000,- 
000. The largest item of imports is American cotton goods. 
The duties on imports are enormously high, amounting on the 
most important articles to 150 per cent, on the original cost, 
and in many instances to 400 or 500. Thus, as in most Span¬ 
ish countries, a high bounty is paid to encourage smuggling. 
Whale ships visit St. Francisco annually in considerable num¬ 
bers for refreshments, and fail to profit by the facilities for 
illicit commerce. 

CALIFORNIA WILL BE A STATE. 


SAN FRANCISCO BAY DESCRIBED. 

“The Bay of San Francisco is considered by nautical men ’ 
as one of the finest harbors in the world. It consists of 
two principal arms, diverging from the entrance in nearly 


“California, although nominally belonging to Mexico, 1844,is 
about as independent of it as Texas, and must erelong share 
the same fate. Since my residence here, no less than four Mex¬ 
ican Governors have been driven from the country by force of 













THEHOME FARM OF A. S. AYERS. I MILE WEST OF GKANGEVILLE. TULARE CO. CAL. 




























































































































HABITS AND LIFE OF THE ABORIGINES. 


45 


arms. The last of these, Micheltorena, with about 400 of his 
soldiers and 100 employes, were driven away about a year ago. 

This occurred at the time that the rest of the nation was expel¬ 
ling his master, Santa Ana, although nothing of this was known 
here at the time. The new administration, therefore, with a 
good grace, highly approved of our conduct. In fact, the suc¬ 
cessive administrations in Mexico have already shown a dispo¬ 
sition to sanction and approve of whatever we may do here, 
from a conscious inability to retain eyen a nominal dominion 
over the country by any other means. Upper California has 
been governed for the last year entirely by its own citizens- 
Lower California is in general an uninhabited and uninhab¬ 
itable desert. The scanty population it contains lives near the 
extremity of the Cape, and has no connection and little inter¬ 
course with this part of the country. * * * * 

INDIANS IN CALIFORNIA. 

“ I know not, since you have been so long engaged in more 
weighty concerns, if you take the same interest as formerly in 
Indian affairs, but since I have supposed your personal identity 
to remain, I shall venture a few remarks on the Aborigines of 
California. In stature the California Indian rather exceeds 
the average of the tribes east of the mountains. He is heavier 
limbed and stouter built. They are a hairy race, and some of 
them have beards that would do honor to a Turk. The color 
similar to that of the Algonquin race, or prehaps rather 
lighter. The visage, short and broad, with wide mouth, thick 
lips, short, broad nose, and extremely low forehead. In some 
individuals the hair grows quite down to the eyebrows, and 
they may be said to have no forehead at all. Some few have 
that peculiar conformation of the eye so remarkable in the 
Chinese and Tartar races, and entirely different from the com¬ 
mon American Indian or the Polynesian; and with this 
unpromising set of features, some have an animated and agree¬ 
able expression of countenance. The general expression of the 
wild Indian has nothing of the proud and lofty bearing, or the 
haughtiness and ferocity so often seen east of the mountains. 
It is more commonly indicative of timidity and stupidity. 

“ The men and children are absolutely and entirely naked, 
and the dress of the women is the least possible or conceivable 
remove from nudity. Their food varies with the season. In 
February and March they live on grass and herbage; clover 
and wild pea-vine are among the best kinds of their pasturage. 
I have often seen hundreds of them gazing together in a 
meadow, like so many cattle. [Descendants of Nebuchadnez¬ 
zar.—E d.] 

“They are very poor hunters of the larger animals, but 
very skillful in making and managing nets for fish and food. 
They also collect in their season great quantities of the seeds 
of various grasses, which are particularly abundant. Acorns 
are another principal article of food, which are larger, more 
abundant, and of better quality than I have seen elsewhere. 


The Californian is not more different from the tribes east of 
the mountains in his physical than in his moral and intellectual 
qualities. They are easily domesticated, not averse to labor, 
have a natural aptitude to learn mechanical trades, and, I 
believe, universally a fondness for music, and a facility in 
acquiring it. 

INDIANS OF THE MISSIONS AT LABOR. 

“ The Mission of St. Joseph, when in its prosperity, had 100 
plough-men, and I have seen them all at work in one field each 
with his plough. It had also fifty weavers, twenty tanners, thirty 
shoe-makers, forty masons, twenty carpenters, ten blacksmiths, 
and various other mechanics. They are not nearly so much 
addicted to intoxication as is common to other Indians. I was 
for some years of the opinion that they were of an entirely 
different race from those east of the mountains, and they cer¬ 
tainly have but little similarity. The only thing that caused 
me to think differently is that they have the same Moccasin 
game that is so common on the Mississippi, and what is more 
remarkable, they accompany it by singing precisely the same 
tune! The diversity of language among them is very great. 
It is seldom an Indian can understand another who lives fifty 
miles distant; within the limits of California are at least 100 
dialects, apparently entirely dissimilar. Few or no white per¬ 
sons have taken any pains to learn them, as there are indiv¬ 
iduals in all the tribes which have communication with the set¬ 
tlements who speak Spanish. 

INDIANS EASILY DOMESTICATED. 


“ The children, when caught young, are most easily domesti- 



them; when taken into Spanish families, and treated with 
kindness, in a few months they learn the language and habits 
of their masters. When they come to maturity they show no 
disposition to return to the savage state. The mind of the 
wild Indian of whatever age, appears to be a tabula rasa, on 
which no impressions, except those of mere animal nature, 
have been made, and ready to receive any impress whatever. 
I remember a remark of yours some years ago, that “Indians 
were only grown-up children." Here we have a real race of 
infants. In many recent instances when a family of white 
people have taken a farm in the vicinity of an Indian 
village, in a short time they would have the whole tribe for 
willing serfs. They submit to flagellation with more humility 
than the negroes. Nothing more is necessary for their complete 
subjugation but kindness in the beginning, and a little well- 
timed severity when manifestly deserved. It is common for 
the white man to ask the Indian, when the latter has committed 
any fault, how many lashes he thinks he deserves. 

INDIAN SIMPLICITY. 

“ The Indian, with a simplicity and humility almost incon¬ 
ceivable, replies ten or twenty, according to his opinion of the 

magnitude of the offense. The white man then orders another 

© 
















4(3 


INCREASED IMMIGRATION TO CALIFORNIA. 


Indian to inflict the punishment, which is received without the 
least sign of resentment or discontent. This I have myself 
witnessed or I could hardly have believed it. Throughout all 
California the Indians are the principal laborers; without them 
the business of the country could hardly be carried on. 

“ I fear the unexpected length of this desultory epistle will 
be tedious to you, but I hope it will serve at least to diversify 
your correspondence. If I can afford you any information, or 
be serviceable to you in any way, I beg you to command me. 
Any communication to me can be sent through the American 
Minister at Mexico, or the Commanding Officer of the Squad¬ 
ron in the Pacific, directed to the care of T. 0. Larkin, Esq., 
American Consul in Monterey. I am, sir, very respectfully, 

“ Your obedient servant, 

“ Hon. Lewis Cass. John Marsh.” 

[Dr. Marsh was murdered on the 24th of September, 1856. 
It occasioned much excitement at the time, as the Doctor was 
one of the oldest residents of the State. The murderers were 
Mexicans, who followed him as he was on the road towards 
home from Pacheco. The discovery of the horse and buggy in 
Martinez at early daylight, was the first knowledge of the affair. 
One of the murderers was arrested the next day. He was tried, 
but escaped from jail and eluded pursuit for ten years. He 
was again arrested, with his accomplice, P. Moreno, who was 
sentenced to State Prison for life, while the first was discharged. 
—Editor.] 

INCREASED IMMIGRATION. 

1840.—In the first five years of the decade commencing 
with 1840, there began to settle in the vast Californian valleys 
that intrepid band of pioneers, who, having scaled the Sierra 
Nevada with their wagons, trains, and cattle, began the civil¬ 
izing influences of progress on the Pacific Coast. Many of them 
had left their homes in the Atlantic and Southern States, with 
the avowed intention of proceeding direct to Oregon. On 
arrival at Fort Hall, however, they heard glowing accounts of 
the salubrity of the Californian climate and the fertility of its 
soil; they therefore turned their heads southward, and steered 
for the wished-for haven. At length, after weary days of toil 
and anxietjL fatigued and foot-sore, the promised land was 
gained And what was it like ? 

CALIFORNIA IN A STATE OF NATURE. 

The valleys were an interminable grain field; mile upon 
mile, and acre after acre, wild oats grew in marvelous profu¬ 
sion, in many places to a prodigious height—one glorious green 
of wild waving corn—high overhead of the wayfarer on foot, 
and shoulder-high with the equestrian; wild flowers of every 
prismatic shade charmed the eye, while they vied with each 
other in the gorgeousness of their colors, and blended into daz¬ 
zling splendor. 

One breath of wind and the wild emerald expanse rippled 
itself into space, while with the heavier breeze came a swell 
whose rolling waves beat against the mountain sides, and, being 


hurled back, were lost in the far-away horizon; shadow pursued 
shadow in a long, merry chase. 

The air was filled with the hum of bees, the chirrup of birds 
and an overpowering fragrance from various plants. The hill¬ 
sides, overrun as they were with a dense mass of tangled jungle, 
were hard to penetrate, while in some portions the deep dark 
gloom of the forest trees lent relief to the eye. The almost 
boundless range was intersected throughout with divergent 
trails, whereby the travejer moved from point to point, progress 
being, as it were, in darkness on account of the height of the 
oats on either side, and rendered dangerous in the valleys by 
the bands of untamed cattle, sprung from the stock introduced 
by the missions and early Spanish settlers. These found food 
and shelter on the plains during the night; at dawn they 
repaired to the higher grounds to chew the cud and bask in the 
sunshine. 

THE HARDY PIONEERS. 

What a life was that of the earty pioneer, and how much of 
life was often crowded into a year, or, sometimes, even into a 
day of their existence! Now, that the roads are all made, and 
the dim trail has been supplanted by well-beaten and much- 
traveled highways, how complacently we talk and write and 
read of their deeds and exploits. 

It has been theirs to subdue the wilderness, and change it 
into smiling fields of bright growing grain. Toil and priva¬ 
tions, such as we can little appreciate now, was their lot fox- 
years. Poor houses, and even no houses at all, but a simple 
tent, or even an Indian wickiup, sheltered them from the l’igors 
of the storm and the inclemency of the weather. The wild 
beasts of the woods were their night visitors, prowling about 
and making night hideous with their unearthly noises, and 
working the nerves of women, and often, pei’haps of men, up to 
a tension that pi-ecluded the possibility of sleep and rest. Neigh¬ 
bors lived manjr miles away, and visits were rare and highly 
appi’eciated. 

LAW AND ORDER PREVAILED. 

Law and order prevailed almost exclusively, and locks and 
bars to doors were then unknown, and the only thing to fear 
in human shape were the petty depredations by Indians. For 
food they had the fruit of the chase, which afforded them 
ample meat, but bread was sometimes a rarity, and appreciated 
when had as only those things are which tend most to our 
comfort, and which we are able to enjoy the least amount of. 
But they were happy in that life of freedom from the environ¬ 
ments of society and social usage. They breathed the pure, 
fresh aii', untainted by any odor of civilization; they ate the 
fii'st fruits of the virgin soil, and grew strong and free on its 
strength and freedom. 

ARRIVAL OF CAPTAIN SUTTER. 

The southern portion of California was essentially Spanish 
and Mexican in its population, while the northern part was left 
to the occupation of foreigners. The Sacramento Valley was 









ARRIVAL OF PIONEER PARTIES. 


47 


comparatively unnoticed until after the settlement of Captain 
John A. Sutter at New Helvetia, but following that event, it 
became the theater for grand operations and achievements. 
Sutter’s Fort was the nucleus about which congregated nearly 
all of the early emigrants, and the annexation of California is 
largely due to the influence of that gentleman and those asso¬ 
ciated with him. Ever hospitable and generous, he was a 
friend to whom the early settlers and explorers repaired for 
advice and sustenance. 

1839. —Captain John Augustus Sutter was born in Baden 
Germany, at midnight, February 28, 1803, of Swiss parents 
After the completion of his education he became a Captain in 
the French army, but becoming tired of the superficial nature 
of French society and customs, he set out for America, to find 
some secluded spot where he might surround himself with a 
home and associations more in consonance with his ideas and 
tastes. New York was reached in July, 1834, and from there, 
after a sojourn of only one month, the Captain went to the far- 
famed “West.” From here he journeyed to New Mexico and 
having heard of the marvelous beaut}- and fertility of Califor¬ 
nia, he joined a party of trappers, expecting soon to reach his 
destination. But the journey ended at Fort Vancouver, and 
Captain Sutter’s only way to reach California was to go to the 
Sandwich Islands and from there to take a sailing ship to Mon¬ 
terey. After waiting a long time in Honolulu he took passage 
in a ship bound for Sitka. By singular good lu ck the vessel 
was driven into San Francisco Bay, July 2, 1839. 

Captain Sutter, having reached the goal of his ambition, 
received permission from the Mexican authorities to select a 
place for settlement in the Sacramento Valley. After much 
difficulty he finally succeeded in reaching the junction of the 
Sacramento and American Rivers. 

suttee’s fort located 

1840 . _A location was made, and Captain Sutter commenced 

the construction of a house. The spot was named “ New Hel¬ 
vetia,” in honor of his mother country. On account of the 
strength, armament and formidable appearance of the build¬ 
ings, the place was called by all the early settlers, “ Sutter’s 
Fort.” which name is even now the most general one. This 
fort was commenced in 1842 and finished in 1844. In 1841, 
when his grant of land was to be made, it became necessary 
to have a map of the tract, and he employed for that purpose 
Captain Jean Vioget, a seamen and Swiss by birth. The sur- 
vev was made by lines of latitude and longitude. Sutter made 
his application under this survey of 1841, the same year the 
map was completed. The Mexican laws allowed only eleven 
leagues to be granted to any one person, but Sutter’s map con¬ 
tained fifty leagues or more. Nevertheless he got the idea 
that he could hold it, and with this came the idea that he 
could sell it. The original claim embraced a considerable por¬ 
tion of Sacramento and Placer Counties, all of Sutter, the valley 
portion of Yuba, and a little point of Colusa. 


PIONEER PARTV OF 1839. 

1839.—In the early part of 1839 a company was made up in 
St. Louis, Missouri, to cross the plains to California, consisting 
of D. G. Johnson, Charles Klein, David D. Dutton, mentioned 
earlier as having come to the country with Captain Smith and 
William Wiggins. Fearing the treachery of the Indians this 
little band determined to await the departure of a party of 
traders in the employ of the American Fur Company, on their 
annual tour to the Rocky Mountains. At Westport they were 
joined by Messrs. Wright, Gegger, a Doctor Wiselzenius and 
his German companion, and Peter Lassen, also two missionaries 
with their wives and hired man, en route for Oregon, as well as 
a lot of what were termed fur trappers, bound for the mount¬ 
ains, the entire company consisting of twenty-seven men and 
two women. At Fort Hall, Klein and Wiselzenius returned, 
thus reducing the number to twenty-five. 



Gen. John A. Suttek. 


In September, the company reached Oregon, and sojourned 
there during the winter of that year; but in May, 1840, a ves¬ 
sel arrived with missionaries from England, designing to touch 
at California on her return. Mr. William Wiggins, now of 
Monterey, the narrator of this expedition, and his three com¬ 
panions from Missouri, among whom was David D. Dutton, at 
present a resident of Vacaville, Solano County, got on board. 

The vessel put in at Bodega, where the Russians were. The 
Mexican Commandant sent a party of soldiers to prevent them 
from landing. At this crisis, the Russian Governor ordered the 
Mexican soldiers to leave or be shot down. They then retired. 

[Here our travelers were at a stand-still, with no means of 
proceeding on their journey, or of finding their way out of the 
inhospitable country; they therefore penned the following com¬ 
munication to the American Consul, then at Monterey:— 

Port Bodega, July 25, 1840. 
“To the American Consul of California — 

“Dear Sir: We, the undersigned citizens of the United 
States, being desirous to land in the country, and having been 

















48 


FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE VALLEY. 


refused a passport, and been opposed by the Government, we 
wi-ite to you, sir, for advice, and claim your protection. Being 
short of funds, we ai’e not able to proceed further on the ship. 
We have concluded to land under the protection of the Rus¬ 
sians; we will remain there fifteen days, or until we receive an 
answer from you, which we hope will be as soon as the circum¬ 
stances of the case will permit. We have been refused a pass¬ 
port from General Vallejo. Our object is to get to the settle¬ 
ments, or to obtain a pass to return to our own country. Should 
we receive no relief, we will take up our arms and travel, con¬ 
sider ourselves in an enemy’s country, and defend ourselves 
with our guns. 

“We subscribe ourselves, 

“ Most respectfully, 

“ David Dutton, Wm. Wiggins, 

“John Stevens, J. Wright.” 

“Peter Lassen, 

PIONEER PARTY OF 1841. 

1841.—May 8, a party of thirty-six persons left Independence j 
Missouri, bound for California. They passed near Salt Lake to 
Carson River, and then to the main channel of Walker’s River. 
Near its source they crossed the Sierras, and descended into the 
San Joaquin Valley. They crossed the San Joaquin River at 
the site of the present railroad bridge; and, reaching the ranch 
of Dr. Marsh, at the base of Mount Diablo, the eyes of the party 
were refreshed with the first signs of civilization which had 
greeted them from the time of leaving Fort Laramie. 

Of this adventurous little band who braved the hardships and 
dangers of a journey, then occupying months, which can now 
be compassed within a week, a number are still living in Cali¬ 
fornia, among whom may be mentioned General John Bidwell 
of Chico—of which he is the honored founder-—having filled 

Q 

high public stations which mark the esteem and confidence 
reposed in him by his fellow-citizens, not only of his own imme¬ 
diate home, but of the entire State; Captain Charles M. Web¬ 
er, one of the most prominent of the pioneer citizens of Stock- 
ton, who died in 1880 ; Josiah Belden, one of the oldest resi¬ 
dents of San Jose. 

This party disbanded at Dr. Marsh’s, and became scattered 
throughout the State. Many of these emigrants have played 
such important parts in the early history of California that a 
few of the principal names are appended:— 


Col. J. B. Bartleson, 

Gen. John Bidwell, 
Col. Joseph B. Childs, 
Josiah Belden, 
Charles M. W eber, 
Charles Hopper, 
Henry Huber, 
Michael C. Nye, 
Green McMahon, 


Captain of the party. Returned to 
Missouri. Is now dead. 

Resides in Chico, Butte County. 
Resides in St. Helena, Napa County. 
Resides at San Jose and S. F. 
Resided in Stockton. Died in 1880. 
Resides in Yountville, Napa County. 
Resides in San Francisco. 

Resides in Oregon. 

Resides in Vacaville, Solano County. 


Benj. Kelsey and wife, 
Andrew Kelsey, 
Robert H. Tiiomes, 
Elias Barnett, 

J. P. Springer, 


Reside in Santa Barbara County. 
Killed by the Indians at Clear Lake. 
Died March 26, 1878, at Tehama. 
Lives in Yountville, Napa County. 
Died at or near Santa Cruz. 


FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN THE VALLEY. 

1841. —It is a fact that there was not a house in the Sacra¬ 
mento or San Joaquin Valleys in 1841, except those of Sutter 
and Dr. Marsh. Sutter had one adobe house and a few huts, but 
his fort was not completed until sometime afterwards. 

After the settlement of New Helvetia, the next point where 
a dwelling was located was about two miles northeast of the 
fort on the American River, in 1841. This was settled by John 
Sinclair for Captain Elias Grimes and Hiram Grimes, to whom 
Sutter afterwards sold it. It made a fine ranch and farm, and 
was extensively stocked. 

1842. —Nicolaus Allgeier, in 1842, was placed on what is 
known as the town of Nicolaus, on the east bank of Feather 
River. The next two places of Gordon and Baca were settled 
in the fall of this year. Hock Farm, which subsequently 
became the home of Captain Sutter, was established and made 
his principal stock-farm, the animals l'anging over that part of 
Sutter County lying west of Feather River, and south of the 
Butte Mountains. 

The land in the vicinity of Marysville was leased to Theo¬ 
dore Cordua. Cordua made a stock-farm of it to a limited 
extent. Marysville is located where he erected, at what is now 
the foot of D Street, an abode dwelling-house, a store-house or 
trading room, culinary department and out-houses. The walls 
of the dwelling were thick, and well constructed for withstand¬ 
ing a siege. The spot was named “ New Mecklenburg ” by 
Captain Sutter, in honor of the place of nativity of Cordua. 
It soon became known, however, as Cordua’s Ranch. 

William Gordon settled on his ranch on Cache Creek, in 
Yolo County, in the fall of 1842. The place now known as 
Vacaville was settled about the same time by Manual Baca, 
from New Mexico. 

PIONEER PARTY OF 1843. 

1843. —In the fall of this year, a party arrived across the 
plains via Fort Boise and Pit River. They came down the 
west bank of the Sacramento River into what is now Colusa 
County, crossed the river below the mouth of Stony Creek. 

Major P. B. Redding, who was with this party, sketched the 
land about the mouth of Stony Creek, and not being entitled to 
receive a grant himself, gave the map to the wife of Dr. Stokes, 
of Monterey, who was a Mexican woman, and she obtained a 
grant, giving Redding two leagues, or perhaps half the grant, 
for his locations. This was the first grant made within the 
limits of Colusa County, and the first settler on the grant was 
a man by the name of Biyant, who built a house and raised 
some corn in 1846. 















RANCH RESIDENCE OF M. M. BURNETT. G MILES SOUTH OF. TULARE CITY, /TULARE CO--. GAL 


jf-IE HOME OF A. D. NEFF. COR. H. & OWENS STS. TULARE CITY, TULARE CO. CAL 







































































































































































































































































































































































































































































PIONEERS SETTLE IN ALL PARTS OF THE STATE 


49 


Wolfskill settled on his grant on Putah Creek, south of 
Cache Creek, and south of Gordon’s grant, in 1843. 

General John Bidwell says: “In my trip up the val¬ 
ley, in 1843, I went as far as the present town of Red Bluff. 

1 was in pursuit of some stolen animals, and was in haste to 
overtake a party going to Oregon, which I did, and recovered 
the animals. My party consisted of Peter Lassen, James Bru- 
ham, and an Indian. 

“ In the summer of 1843, a company arrived from 1 the States ’ 
via Oregon, where they had wintered. This party was under 
the lead of L. W. Hastings, andN. Coombs, of Napa, was one of 
the party. Hastings was so well pleased with the land lying on 
the west bank of the Sacramento River just below the present 
town of Colusa, that he got me to make a map of it, intending 
to apply for a grant. He did not succeed, however. Some 
two or three of Hasting’s party—their names I do not now 
recall—were in the habit of shooting at Indians, and had killed 
two or three before reaching the Colusa village, which was the 
only known point within about forty miles above, and thirty 
miles below, where horses could be watered from the river. At 
last the Indians became alarmed, and the tribe ahead had notice 
of the coming of the Oregon party. On attempting to approach 
the river at Colusa the Indians attacked them. For this they 
were reported hostile, and Sutter went with about forty men— 
mostly Indians whom he had taught the use of fire-arms and 
whom he employed as hunters and trappers—and punished 
them severely. Many Indians were killed—mostly of the Willy 
tribe. Sutter’s forces crossed the river six or seven miles above 
Colusa on a bridge built by the Indians—the Duc-Ducs, I 
believe—for fishing purposes. This bridge was about sixty feet 
wide and very long, for the river was wide but not deep. 

“On my return from Red Bluff in March, 1843, I made a 
map of this Upper Sacramento Valley, on which most of the 
streams were laid down, and they have since borne the names 
then given them. 

FIRST SETTLEMENT NORTH OF SUTTER’S FORT. 

“ Peter Lassen then selected what afterward became his grant 
on Deer Creek (now in Tehama County), and it was the first 
place selected and settled north of Sutter’s grant. He started 
there in December, 1843, but camped at Sutter’s Buttes (now 
called Marysville Buttes or Butte Mountains) till January or 
Februarv, 1844, before proceeding to his destination. Several 
other places were examined and mapped in 1843, but little was 
done in this line till 1844, because those who wanted the land 
had not been here long enough to become citizens and be entitled 
to receive a grant.’ 

Knight’s grant, on the Sacramento River, was settled by 
himself, in 1844. The settlement by Samuel Neal and David 
Dutton on Butte Creek, about seven miles south of Chico, was 
made in 1844. About the same time Edward A. Farwell, with 
Thomas Fallon, settled on his grant on Chico Creek, about a 


mile below the present town site of Chico. The same year, 
but a little later, a settlement was made on the present property 
of General John Bidwell, by William Dickey, who obtained 
the grant. 

PIONEER PARTY OF 1844. 

1S44.—This party consisted of eleven wagons, twenty-six 
men, eight women and about a dozen children. Let us give the 
names: Dr. John Townsend and wife; Martin Murphy, Sr.; 
Martin Murph} r , wife and four sons—James, Martin S., Pat¬ 
rick W., Bernard D.; James Murphy, wife and one child— 
Mary F.; Bernard Murphy (unfortunately killed on board the 
Jenny Lind in 1853); Miss Ellen Murphy (the present Mrs. 
Weber, of Stockton); John M. Murphy, Daniel Murphy, Jas. 
Miller, wife and four children; Allen Montgomery and wife, 
Captain Stevens, Mr. Hitchcock, Mrs. Peterson and family. 
Mat Harbin, Moses Schallenberger, John Sullivan, his sister 
and two brothers, Robert and Mike; John Flomboy, Joseph 
Foster, Oliver and Francis Marguet, Mr. Mastin, Sr., Dennis 
Mastin, Pat Mastin, John and Brittain Greenwood, and old 
Mr. Greenwood. About May 1, 1843, these intrepid pioneers 
started from Council Bluffs to undertake the untried journey 
which lay before them, little thinking of its thousand dangers 
and vicissitudes, hardships enough to deter the bravest. 

From December until March, 1844, the party encamped 
near Donner Lake, and while at this place the first child 
of white parents born in California saw the light. This 
was a <laughter to Mr. and Mrs. Martin Murphy, a young lady 
who received the name of Elizabeth, and afterwards became 
Mrs. William P. Taffe. 

Martin Murphy purchased a property on the American Fork, 
from a man named Rufus, comprising two leagues, and there 
dwelt until 1850, when he disposed of it and removed to Santa 
Clara Valley, when he purchased the homestead on which he 
now resides. 

The golden anniversary of their wedding was celebrated on 
the 18th of July, 1881, with all the eclat that wealth could 
throw around it, and the thousands of friends who paid their 
respects on that day loudly demonstrated the high estimation 
in which Martin Murphy and his family are held by the people 
of California, who look upon him who first broke a wagon 
trail across the Sierras as the avant courier of a higher civil- 
ization. 

TRUCKEE, tHE INDIAN GUIDE. 

The dangers of the plains and mountains were passed, and 
the party reached the Humboldt River, when an Indian named 
Truckee presented himself and offered to guide them to Cali¬ 
fornia. After questioning him closely, they employed him as 
their guide, and as they progressed found that the statements 
he had made about the route were fully verified. He soon 
became a great favorite among them, and when they reached 
the lower crossing of the Truckee River, now Wadsworth, 
they gave his name to the beautiful stream, so pleased were 













oO 


UNLIMITED POWER EXERCISED BY ALCALDES. 


they by the pure water and abundance of fish to which he had 
directed them. The stream will ever live, in history, as the 
Truckee River. 

CONSTRUCTION OF VESSELS. 

1845.—William Hardy came ashore from a whale-ship in 
the latter part of the year 1845. He first went to work as a 
carpenter for Thomas O. Larkin, in Monterey. He had not 
been employed in this way long before Roselean and Sansevain 
sent over to Monterey for carpenters to come to Santa Cruz 
and build a schooner. Mr. Hardy came, among others, and 
they went to work on the vessel. The vessel was completed 
in 1846, and was called the Santa Craz, and sailed to the 
Sandwich Islands to be coppered. She returned, and was lost 
at sea. 

THE FIRST GRINDSTONES. 

Mr. W. C. Moon settled at “Moon’s Ranch,” in Tehama 
County, in 1845, and with him a noted hunter and Indian 
fighter by the name of Merritt. They, with Peter Lassen, 
made a large canoe-load of grindstones, on Stony Creek, in 
Colusa County, in 1845, and packed them on mules over 
twenty miles to the river. They sold a few at Sutter’s Fort, 
and peddled the rest out all round the Bay of San 'Francisco. 
When the canoe left Sacramento it was laden to within six 
inches of the top. As they proceeded from point to point the 
canoe became lighter, of course; but, at first, it seemed any¬ 
thing but safe, even for inland navigation. 

THE CELEBRATED ALCALDE. 

In the vear 1845 Mr. William Blackburn came to Santa 
%/ 

Cruz. He came over the plains from Independence, Missouri, 
and arrived hei’e in October. He was a native of Virginia, 
born in 1814. He came over the country in company with 
Jacob R. Snyder, George McDougal and Harvey Speel. 

They stopped together on the Zyante and went to making 
shingles. William Blackburn was a cabinet-maker by trade, 
and in the year 1844 worked at that business in New Orleans. 
But men arriving in California, of course, took hold of any 
business that would pay. So these men seem to have been 
still engaged in lumbering and shingle-making when the Bear 
flag went up in Sonoma. 

When the Bear Flag Battalion came marching down towards 
Monterey, early in July, 1846, William Blackburn and his as¬ 
sociates joined it. Just now, too, the United States flag went 
up in Monterey, and the battalion went south to see that its 
authority was acknowledged. Indue time Blackburn returned 
to Santa Cruz and went into the merchandizing business, estab¬ 
lishing himself in the old adobe building fronting on the upper 
plaza. 

In the year 1847 he was appointed alcalde by Governor 
Mason, and for a year or two dispensed justice in a way pecu¬ 
liarly his own, as some of the old records of his court will 
show. 


BLACKBURN AS ALCALDE. 

Many curious illustrations of it could be given, but we will 
instance one or two. Many enlarged stories have been told of 
Judge Blackburn, but these here mentioned are taken from the 
records, or from living witnesses’ statements. 

The alcalde records in the County Clerk’s office of Santa 
Cruz of date of August 14, 1847, show that on that day a jury 
tried Pedro Gomez for the murder of his wife, Barbara Gomez, 
and found him guilty. 

Sentence of the Court: “ That the prisoner be conducted back 
to prison, there to remain until Monday, the 16th of August 
(two days only), and then be taken out and shot.” 

“ August 17. Sentence carried into effect on the 16th ac¬ 
cordingly. W. Blackburn, Alcalde.” 

Pretty summary justice that! It should, perhaps, be stated 
that, according to law, Judge Blackburn ought to have reported 
the trial of this criminal to the higher Court in Monterey, and 
have had the action of his Court sanctioned, before the execu¬ 
tion. For some reason he did not do this, but had the criminal 
shot, and then reported both the trial and execution to head- 
quai'tei’s! 

This did not quite suit Governor Mason’s ideas of propriety, 
even in that lawless time, and some pretty sharp correspond¬ 
ence followed between the Governor and Judge Blackburn. 
This exact course of procedure does not seem to have been re¬ 
peated ! 

A TOUCHING SCENE. 

But there was a sequence, on the 21st of August, before the 
Court, that is touching, indeed. Josepha Gomez and Balinda 
Gomez, orphan children of a murdered father and murdered 
mother, were brought into Court—two little girls—to be dis¬ 
posed of by the Court. 

The Coui't gave Balinda, eleven years old, to Jacinto Castro 
“ to raise ” until she was twenty-one years of age, unless she 
was sooner married; the said Jacinto Castro obligating himself 
to give her a good education, and three cows and calves at her 
marriage, or when she arrives of age. 

The Court gave Josepha, nine years old, to Alexander Rod- 
eriguez, with some similar provision for her education and care. 
But it is a sorry feeling that comes over us as we seem to see 
these poor little orphan girls parted there to go among stran¬ 
gers. It is hoped their lives have been less a grief than their 
childhood. 

SERVED HIM RIGHT. 

But in Court, still further, November 27, 1847, the case of 

A. Roderiguez vs. one C-; plaintiff sued defendant, a boy, 

for shearing his horse’s mane and tail off. It was proved that 
the defendant did the shearing. 

An eye-witness of the trial says that when it came to the 
matter of the sentence. Judge Blackburn looked very grave, 
and his eyes twinkled a good deal, and he turned to his law 
















SCENES AND ACTS OE THE EARLY COURTS. 


51 


book, and examined it here and there, as if looking up author¬ 
ities touching a very important and perplexing case. All at 
once he shut up his book, sat back in his chair, and, speaking 
with a solemn tone, said: 

“ I find no law in any of the statutes applicable to this case, 
except in the laws of Moses—‘An eye for an eye and a tooth 
for a tooth.’ Let the prisoner be taken out in front of this 
office and there be sheared close.” 

The sentence was literally carried into effect, to the great 
satisfaction and amusement of the native inhabitants, who 
expressed their approval by saying, “It served him right.” 
Blackburn’s career. 

In the year 1845 he crossed the plains from Independence, 
Missouri, to California, in the company of Jacob R. Snyder, 
George Williams, George McDougal and Hemy Speel, all being 
leading men in the company. They arrived in this county in 
October of that year, and settled on the Zyante, where Black¬ 
burn, Snyder and McDougal engaged in the shingle business. 
Speel left the party at Fort Hall for Oregon, but arrived in 
California in 1846. 

Blackburn, with all of these fellow-travelers, was in Fre¬ 
mont’s battalion, under the Bear flag, Blackburn being First 
Lieutenant of Artillery, Company F—Captain McLane. At 
the battle of Buenaventura, Lieutenant Blackburn fired the 
first gun, loading and handling it. During that campaign 
Snyder was the Quartermaster. They continued in the service 
till the treaty of Couenga, when they returned to Santa Cruz 
as their home, Blackburn opening a store on the old plaza, 
which was also an open hotel, for no white man was ever asked 
pay for supper or lodging; but any thing there was in the house 
was at the service of the guest; open-handed hospitality being 
the character of host and people in those primitive times, here 
as elsewhere, throughout California. McDougal settled in 
Gilroy. 

BLACKBURN AS JUDGE. 

During those stormy periods of anarchy and lawlessness he 
performed the duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of 
all; and although his decisions cover points of all the varied 
questions of jurisprudence, we believe none have ever yet been 
reversed by any higher Court. His pretensions were not based 
on Coke or Littleton, but on common sense and justice. The 
records of his Court are as amusing as the jokes of “Punch.” 

Blackburn, as Judge, was always anxious that the law and 
justice should be fully and quickly vindicated, and, after 
passing sentence, would give no delay to its execution; for, 
although it was the rule for his decisions to be sent to the Gov¬ 
ernor for approval, they were generally sent after the execu¬ 
tion, so that there should be no chance for a delay of justice. 
Although that might seem to be summary proceeding, yet 
it met the approval of the people over whom he governed, 
but at times was the cause of some sharp and terse correspond¬ 
ence between himself and his superiors. 


In 1848 he resigned his office to go to the gold region. He 

o o o o 

returned to Santa Cruz in 1849, and was appointed a Justice 
of the Peace under the Territorial Government. 

BLACKBURN’S FARMING PROFITABLE. 

In 1851 he settled on his homestead in Santa Cruz, and com¬ 
menced farming in company with his brother, Daniel Black¬ 
burn, and they planted the bottom with potatoes, and such was 
the enormous yield of the whole bottom that at thirteen cents 
per pound, the then price of potatoes, the yield was nearly 
$100,000; and for several years the profits of potato raising 
were enormous. Where the house now stands four acres 
yielded 81,200 worth of potatoes to the acre; they were early, 
and brought 12| cents per pound. Next year thirteen acres 
were rented to Thomas Weeks at 8100 per acre, full payment 
in advance. 

BLACKBURN’S PREMIUM POTATOES. 

From this place the Judge sent samples of potatoes of four 
pounds weight (which was a general average), to the Crystal 
Palace Fair at New York, and received a premium for the 
finest potatoes ever known. From here also was derived the 
fame which Santa Cruz now holds of producing fine potatoes. 

In 1848 Judge Blackburn built a vessel, a schooner of about 
fifty tons burden, called the Zach Taylor, and Captain Vin¬ 
cent commanded it. When Monterey ceased to be the head¬ 
quarters of the Pacific, the vessel was run on the Sacramento 
River. He was also concerned in building the first saw-mill up 
the Blackburn Gulch. 

He was considered a man of enterprise and improvement, 
and we find him from his start towards the Pacific to have 
been a man of note, first as one of the leaders in the train with 
which he journeyed; again a commander and soldier in the first 
war towards the generation of a Pacific Government; then, as 
a jurist, his history is recorded in the archives of the country; 
finally as an agriculturist, his mark was made and is on record 
in the proceedings of the Crystal Palace World’s Fair, New 
York, which was also probably the first visible knowledge 
demonstrating to the East the capabilities of California to raise 
her own food. 

FIRST PROTESTANT WORSHIP. 

1846 .—Mr. A. A. Hecox appears to have commenced the 
first Protestant public worship in California. He was an 
authorized Christian minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Worship was first held at the house of John D. Green, in 
August, 1847, and after that in the house of J. G. T. Dunleavy. 

Mr. Hecox thinks he preached the first Protestant sermon 
in California at the funeral of a Miss Hitchcock, who died at 
San Jose, about December, 1846* Feeble in body and leaning 
upon a staff he made his way to the house of mourning, where 
he found a few of the relatives of the deceased, who had assem¬ 
bled to bid farewell to their departed sister, who had fallen far, 

*See Elliott’s History of Santa Cruz County. 









52 


ACTIVE LIFE OF EARLY PIONEER SETTLERS. 


far from home. His remarks were based upon the following 
words: “ Remember how short my time is.” 

The first Methodist class was formed in the latter part of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1848, and the Rev. E. Anthony elected preacher, and Mr. 
Hecox appointed in charge of the work in San Jose. 

The gold discovery, however, drew off the people very sud¬ 
denly in the latter part of the year, and public worship was 
practically suspended for the time. 

Alfred Baldwin came in 1846. When a boy, living 
in Delaware County, New York, he got very much interested 
in this Pacific region through reading Lewis and Clark’s jour¬ 
nal. 

The desire to see this country that was said to have no cold 
winters, grew upon him. Being in St. Louis in 1845, when a 
party was starting overland to Oregon, he embraced the oppor¬ 
tunity and joined it. 

They reached their destination in the fall of 1845. Mr. Bald¬ 
win came to San Francisco early in 1846. He very soon- 
enlisted under Purser James H. Watmough, purser of the sloop 
of war Portsmouth, with others, to see that there was no resist¬ 
ance to the flag of the United States, which had then just been 
raised. They were stationed at San Jose. 

THE SAN JOAQUIN. 

While they were there news came down from the Mission 
San Jose, that Indians from the San Joaquin neighborhood 
were making their usual raids and stealing all the horses they 
could lay hands on. 

This was an old habit of the Indians, and frontier ranchos, 
like Marsh’s or Livermore’s, could not keep horses. 

The spirit of the new flag did not propose to submit to these 
depredations. So, very promptly, Captain Watmough organ¬ 
ized a party to go and look after these matters.' It consisted of 
some twenty-five or thirty men. 

They went to the Indians’ lurking place on the Stanislaus 
River, and there camped for the night. By and by, in the 
darkness, a band of horses came rushing on them. 

The Indians had stolen them from around the mission, as 
before remarked, and now as they thought they were driving 
them into their own secure retreat, they were driving them 
into the hands of our encamped force. The horses were secured 
and brought back, but the Indians themselves succeeded in get¬ 
ting away into the willows and thickets. 

Returning to San Jose, the party was ordered at once to go 
south in a vessel named Sterling to help take care of things 
there. Getting a little below Monterey, they met the Vandalia 
coming up with orders that they should return to Monterey, 
and there fit out an expedition and proceed, in force, down the 
coast by land. Back to Monterey they came. Men were sent 
to the Sacramento Valley to get horses to mount the expedition. 
Mr. Baldwin, meanwhile, worked at his trade in Monterey, get¬ 
ting the harnesses ready for the hauling of the cannon. 


STRUGGLE FOR AMERICAN RULE. 

In the month of November, 1846, the requisite number of 
horses having been obtained, they were about to be driven across 
the Salinas plain toward Monterey. 

But just here, Pio Pico, who had heard of this coming band 
of horses, confronts them with a force of Californians. 

Before he gets the horses, however, the men in charge of them 
turn them aside to a rancho in the hills, and on the next day 
go out to disperse the opposing California forces. 

The battle of the Salinas resulted, and it went very hard 
with our few men. It is said to have been the only battle 
during the struggle for American rule in California that did go 
hard with our forces. The record is that Captain Foster, the 
officer in command, was killed, and eleven of his men. But 
the horses were not captured. That night their faithful Indian 
guide, “ Tom,” broke through and carried the news to Monterey. 
The entire force there marched immediately over to the Salinas, 
but no enemy was any longer to be found. The horses were 
obtained, the expedition was gotten ready, and moved down 
the country. Of course in December and onward they encoun¬ 
tered the rainy season, and the storms in the St. Inez Mount¬ 
ains were terrible; but they got through at last, and accom¬ 
plished the object of their equipment. 

WORDS OF A PIONEER. 

Hon. Elam Brown, who resides at Lafayette, Contra Costa 
County, was prominent and active in aiding to establish the 
rule of the Americans. He was a member of the conven¬ 
tion that formed the Constitution at Monterey. 

Mr. Brown participated in the first two sessions of the Legis¬ 
lature. What he lacked in ability and knowledge, he in a great 
measure made up in industry and economy. 

Mr Brown tells us : I was eighty-three years old the 10th 

day of last June. I labor under the same embarrassment that 
the hunter did who could not shoot a duck; for when he took 
aim at one, another would put its head in the way. I find 
much less difficulty in collecting than in selecting incidents. 
My own and Mr Nathaniel Jones’ families were the first Ameri¬ 
cans that settled within the present bounds of this, Contra 
Costa, County. There were no white families nearer than San 
Jose' Mission. I settled on my present farm in 1848, and I 
expect to l’emain on it the balance of my time on earth.” * 

Mr. Brown disclaims any praise over the tens of thousands 
of -others who have equally participated and aided in the great 
work of reclaiming the vast waste of wilderness,.that seventy- 
six years ago was almost entirely occupied by the native 
Indians and wild beasts, but now covered over with organized 
States, counties, cities, towns and farms, with all the comforts 
and conveniences of art and science that civilization confers. 
Being an eye-witness in the front line of a long march, the 
picture is plain. The work is large to those who have not seen 

*Elliott’s History of Contra Costa County. 
















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* 

























BEAR FLAG WAR INAUGURATED. 


53 


the beginning and end of the whole extraordinary advance of 
settlement and civilization in America from the year 1804 to 
1880. 

FIRST CAST PLOW. 

1846—Elihu Anthony came to California in 1846, from Indi¬ 
ana. He stopped first in San Jose, but moved with his family 
to Santa Cruz in January, 1848. 

Mr. Anthony’s foundry made the first cast-iron plows ever 
constructed in California. Patterns were obtained from the 
East in 1848, and the castings made and attached to the proper 
wood-work. Previous to this they had been imported and 
sold at high figures. The modern plow was at this time sup¬ 
planting the old Mexican affair, illustrated and described else¬ 
where. 

FIRST MIXING PICK. 

At this same foundry were made, in the spring of 1848, the 
first picks for mining purposes. As soon as the report of gold 
discovery was known in Santa Cruz, Anthony went to manu¬ 
facturing picks for miners’ use. He made seven and a half 
dozen. They were light and weighed only about three pounds 
each. 

Thomas Fallon, now of San Jose, took them with his family 
in an ox-team across the mountains to the Sutter mines, or mill 
to dispose of them. He sold nearly all of them at three ounces 
of gold each; but the last of the lot brought only two ounces 
each, as by this time other parties had packed in a lot from 
Oregon. 

These were some of the men who were at the head of affairs 
here in that stirring transition period between the two flags, 
the Mexican and that of the United States, and the introduc¬ 
tion of California as a State of the American Union. This 
brings us to what is known as the Bear Flag War. 

FIRST WHITE WOMAN ARRIVED. 

Mrs. Mary A. Kelsey crossed the plains at the age of eigh¬ 
teen years. She left Jasper County, Missouri, with her hus¬ 
band, Benjamin Kelsey, in the spring of 1841. She was the 
only woman in that party, which consisted of thirty-three 
persons, of which General Bidwell and others were members, 
as mentioned on page 48. She and her husband remained at 
Sutter’s Fort until 1843. They then went to Oregon and 
resided in Willamette Valley until 1844. Getting dissatisfied 
with that locality they moved to Napa, and Kelsey was pres¬ 
ent at the capture of Sonora in 1846. In 1851 they again went 
to Oregon and remained until 1855, and then again returned 
to California. In 1856 they pulled out for Texas, which State 
they reached in 1858, and remained there several years. Fin¬ 
ally they decided that no place was like California, and returned 
and located near Stockton. 

We have now given the names of some of the leading arri¬ 
vals previous to the discovery of gold, and leading incidents in 
their active lives. 


Bear Flag War. 

During the year 1846, the American settlers, many of whom 
had married Spanish ladies, learned that it was the intention of 
General Castro, then Governor of California, to take measures 
for the expulsion of the foreign element, and more especially of 
the Americans. Lieut. John C. Fremont of the United 
States Topographical engineers, was then camped at the north 
end of the Buttes, being on his way to Oregon. The settlers 
sent a deputation to him, asking him to remain and give them 
the protection of his presence. He was afraid of a court-martial ; 
but they argued with him that if he would take back to Wash¬ 
ington his broken Lieutenant’s commission in one hand and 

O 

California in the other, he would be the greatest man in the 
nation. The bait was a tempting one. Fremont hesitated; but 
they kept alluring him nearer to the scene of action. On the 9th 
of June, 1846, there were some thirteen settlers in his camp at 
the mouth of the Feather River, when William Knight, who 
had arrived in the country from Missouri in 1841, and had mar¬ 
ried a Spanish lady, came and informed them that Lieutenant 
Arci had passed his place—now Knight’s Landing—that mom¬ 
ma-, going south, with a band of horses, to be used against the 
Americans in California. 

THE SETTLERS ORGANIZE. 

The settlers organized a company with Ezekiel Merritt, the 
oldest man among them, as captain, and gave chase to Arci. 
They overtook him on the Cosumne River, and captured him 
and his horses. The Rubicon was now passed, and there was 
nothing to do but to go ahead. When they got back to Fre¬ 
mont’s camp they found other settlers there, and on consulta¬ 
tion it was determined to capture Sonoma, the headquarters 
of General M. G. Vallejo, the military commander of Northern 
California. They gathered strength as they marched along, 
and when they got to John Grigsby’s place in Napa Valley, 
they numbered thirty-three men. Here the company was reor¬ 
ganized and addressed by Dr. Robert Semple, afterwards Presi¬ 
dent of the Constitutional Convention. We give the account 
of the capture in General Vallejo’s own words, at the Centen¬ 
nial exercises held at Santa Rosa, July 4, 1876. 

“ I have now to say something of the epoch which inaugu¬ 
rated a new era for this country. A little before dawn on June 
14, 1846, a party of hunters and trappers, with some foreign 
settlers, under command of Captain Merritt, Doctor Semple, and 
William B. Ide, surrounded my residence at Sonoma, and with¬ 
out firing a shot, made prisoners of myself, then commander of 
the northern frontier, of Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Prudon ; 
Captain Salvador Vallejo, and Jacob P. Leese. I should here 
state that down to October, 1845, I had maintained at my own 
expense a respectable garrison at Sonoma, which often, in 
union with the settlers, did good service in campaigns against 
the Indians; but at last, tired of spending money which the 



















54 


BEAR FLAG WAR INAUGURATED. 


Mexican Government never refunded, I disbanded the force, 
and most of the soldiers who had constituted it left Sonoma, 
Thus in June, 1840, the plaza was entirely unprotected, 
although there were ten pieces of artillery, with other arms 
and munitions of war. The parties who unfurled the Bear- 
Flag were well aware that Sonoma was without defense, and 
lost no time in takiirg advantage of this fact, and carrying out 
their plans. 

“ Years before, I had urgently represented to the Government 
of Mexico the necessity of stationing a sufficient force on the 
frontier, else Sonoma would be lost, which would be equivalent 
to leaving the rest of the country an easy prey to the invader. 
What think you, my friends, were the instructions sent me in 
reply to my repeated demands for means to fortify the country? 
These instructions wei-e that I should at once force the emi¬ 
grants to recross the Sierra Nevada, and depart from the 
territory of the Republic. To say nothing of the inhumanity 
of these orders, their execution was physically impossible— 
first, because the immigrants came in autumn, when snow 
covered the Sierras so quickly as to make a return impracti¬ 
cable. 

“Under the circumstances, not only I, but Command- 
ante General Castro, resolved to provide the immigrants with 
letters of security, that they might remain temporarily in the 
country. We always made a show of authority, but well con¬ 
vinced all the time that we had no power to resist the invasion 
which was coming upon us. With the frankness of a soldier I 
can assure you that the American immigrants never had cause 
to complain of the treatment they received at the hands of 
either authorities or citizens. They carried us as prisoners to 
Sacramento, and kept us in a calaboose for sixty days or more, 
until the authority of the United States made itself respected, 
and the honorable and humane Commodore Stockton returned 
us to our hearths.” 

FIRST MOVEMENT FOR INDEPENDENCE. 

On the seizure of their prisoners the revolutionists at once 
took steps to appoint a Captain, who was found in the person 
of John Grigsby, for Ezekiel Merritt wished not to retain the 
permanent command. A meeting was then called at the bar¬ 
racks, situated at the northeast corner of the plaza, under the 
presidency of William B. Ide, Dr. Robert Semple being Secre¬ 
tary . 

At this conference Semple urged the independence of 
the country, stating that having once commenced they must 
proceed, for to turn back was certain death. Before the disso¬ 
lution of the convention, however, rumors were rife that secret 
emissaries were being dispatched to the Mexican rancheros, to 
inform them of the recent occurrences, therefore to prevent 
any attempt at a rescue, it was deemed best to transfer their 
prisoners to Sutter’s Fort, where the danger of such would be 
less. 


RESOLVED TO ESTABLISH A GOVERNMENT. 

Before transferring their prisoners, however, a treaty, or 
agreement was entered into between the captives and captors, 
which will appear in the annexed document kindly furnished 
to us by General Vallejo, and which have never before been 
given to the public. 

“ We, the undersigned, having resolved to establish a govern¬ 
ment upon Republican principles in connection with others of 
our fellow-citizens, and having taken up arms to support it, we 
have taken three Mexican officers as prisoners; Gen. M. G. 
Vallejo, Lieut. Col. Victor Prudon, and Capt. D. Salvador 
Vallejo; having formed and published to the world no regular 
plan of government, we feel it our duty to say that it is not our 
intention to take or injure any pei-son who is not found in 
opposition to the cause, nor will we take or destroy the prop¬ 
erty of private individuals further than is necessary for our 
immediate support. 

“Ezekiel Merritt, William Fallon, 

“ R. Semple, Samuel Kelsey.” 

GEN. VALLEJO A PRISONER IN SUTTER’S FORT. 

But to proceed with our narrative of the removal of the 
General, his brother and Prudon to Sutter’s Fort. A guard 
consisting of William B. Ide, as Captain, Captain Grigsby, 
Captain Merritt, Kit Carson, William Hargrave, and five others 
left Sonoma for Sutter’s Fort, with their prisoners upon horses 
actually supplied by General Vallejo himself. We are told 
that on the first night after leaving Sonoma with their pris¬ 
oners, the revolutionists, with singular inconsistency, encamped 
and went to sleep without setting sentinel or guard ; that 
during the night they were surrounded by a party under the 
command of Juan de Padilla, who crept up stealthily and 
awoke one of the prisoners, telling him that there was with 
him close at hand a strong and well-armed force of rancheros, 
who, if need be, could surprise and slay the Americans before 
there was time for them to fiy to ai-ms, but that he, Padilla, 
before giving such instructions waited the orders of General 
Vallejo, whose rank entitled him to the command of any such 
demonstration. 

The General was cautiously aroused and the scheme divulged 
to him, but with a self-sacrifice which cannot be too highly 
commended, answered that he should go voluntarily with his 
guards, that he anticipated a speedy and satisfactory settlement 
of the whole matter, advised Padilla to return to his rancho 
and disperse his band, and positively refused to permit any 
violence to the guard, as he was convinced that such would 
lead to disastrous consequences, and probably involve the 
rancheros and their families in ruin, without accomplishing any 
good result. 

Having traveled about two-thirds of the way from Sutter’s 
Fort, Captain Merritt and Kit Carson rode on ahead with the 
news of the capture of Sonoma, desiring that arrangements be 









PROGRESS OF THE BEAR FLAG WAR. 


55 


made for the reception of the prisoners. They entered the fort 
early in the morning of June 16th. 

MAKING OF THE BEAR FLAG. 

On the seizure of the citadel of Sonoma, the Independents 
found floating from the flag-stafl-head the flag of Mexico, a fact 
which had escaped notice during the bustle of the morning. It 
was at once lowered, and they set to work to devise a banner 
■which they should claim as their own. They were as one on 
the subject of there being a star on the groundwork, but they 
taxed their ingenuity to have some other device, for the “lone 
star ” had already been appropriated by Texas. 

So many accounts of the manufacture of this insignia have 
been published that we give the reader those quoted by the 
writer in The Pioneer :— 

“ A P iece of cotton cloth,” says Mr. Lancy, “ was obtained, 
and a man by the name of Todd proceeded to paint from a 
pot of led paint a star in the corner. Before it was finished, 
Henry L. Ford, one of the party, proposed to paint on the 
center, facing the star, a grizzly bear. This was unanimously 
agreed to, and the grizzly bear was painted accordingly. When 
it w as done the flag was taken to the flag-staff, and hoisted 
amid the hurrahs of the little party, who swore to defend it 
with their lives.” 

Of this matter Lieutenant Revere says: “ A flag was also 
hoisted bearing a grizzly bear rampant, with one stripe below, 
and the words, ‘ Republic of California,’ above the bear, and a 
single star in the union.” This is the evidence of the officer 
who hauled down the Bear flag and replaced it with the Stars 
and Stripes on July 9, 1846. 

The Western Shore Gazetteer has the following version: “On 
the 14th of June, 1846, this little handful of men proclaimed 
California a free and independent Republic, and on that day 
hoisted their flag, known as the ‘ Bear flag; ’ this consisted of 
a strip of worn-out cotton domestic, furnished by Mrs. Kelley, 
bordered with red flannel, furnished by Mrs. John Sears, who 
had fled from some distant part to Sonoma for safetv upon 
hearing that war had been thus commenced. In the center of 
the flag was a representation of a bear, en passant, painted 
with Venetian red, and in one corner was painted a star of the 
same color. Under the bear were inscribed the words, ‘ Repub¬ 
lic of California,’ put on with common writing ink. This flag 
is preserved by the California Pioneer Association, and mav be 
seen at their rooms in San Francisco. It was designed and 
executed by W. L. Todd.” 

The Sonoma Democrat under the caption, “ A True History 
of the Bear Flag,” tells its story: “ The rest of the revolution¬ 
ary party remained in possession of the town. Among them 
were three young men, — Todd, Benjamin Duell, and Thomas 
Cowie. A few days after the capture, in a casual conversation 
between these young men, the matter of a flag came up. Thev 
had no authority to raise the American flag, and thev deter¬ 
mined to make one. Their general idea was to imitate, without 


following too closely their national ensign. Mrs. W. B. Elliott 
had been brought to the town of Sonoma by her husband from 
his ranch on Mark West Creek for safety. The old Elliott 
cabin may be seen to this day on Mark West Creek, about 
a mile above the Springs. From Mrs. Elliott, Benjamin 
Duell got a piece of new red flannel, some white domestic, 
needles, and thread. A piece of blue drilling was also obtained. 

So from this material, without consultation with any one 
else, these three young men made the Bear flag. Cowie had 
been a saddler. Duell had also served a short time at the 
same trade. To form the flag, Duell and Cowie sewed together 
alternate strips of red, white and blue. Todd drew in the up¬ 
per corner a sta r, and painted on the lower a rude picture of a 
grizzly bear, which was not standing as has been sometimes 
represented, but was drawn with head down. The bear was 
afterwards adopted as the design of the great seal of the State 
of California On the original flag it was so rudely executed 
that two of those who saw it raised have told us that it looked 
more like a hog than a bear. Be that as it may, its meaning 
was plain that the revolutionary party would, if necessary, 
fight their way through at all hazards. In the language of 
our informant, it meant that there was no back-out; they in¬ 
tended to fight it out. There were no halyards on the flag¬ 
staff, which stood in front of the barracks. It was acrain 

O 

reared, and the flag, which was soon to be replaced by that 
of the Republic, for the first time floated on the breeze.” 

William Winter, Secretary of the Association of Territorial 
Pioneers of California, and Mr. Lancey, questioned the correct¬ 
ness of these dates, and entered into correspondence with all 
the men known to be alive, who were of that party, and others 
who were likely to throw any light on the subject. Among 
many answers received, we quote the following portion of a 
letter from James G. Bleak:— 

“ St. George, Utah, 16th of April, 1878. 

To William Winter, Esq., Secretary of Association 1 Territo¬ 
rial Pioneers of California ’— 

“Dear Sir: Your communication of the 3d instant is 
placed in my hands by the widow of a departed friend—James 
M. Ide, son of W illiam B.—as I have at present in my charge 
some of his papers. In reply to your question asking for 
‘ the correct date ’ of raising the ‘ Bear flag ’ at Sonoma, in 1846 

I will quote from the writing of William B. Ide, deceased:_ 

‘“The said Bear flag (was) made of plane (plain) cotton cloth, 
and ornamented with the red flannel of a shirt from the back of 
one of the men, and christened by the ‘ California Republic,’ in 
red paint letters on both sides; (it) was raised upon the standard 
where had floated on the breezes the Mexican flag aforetime ■ it 
was the 14th of June, ’46. Our whole number was twentv-four, 
all told. The mechanism of the flag was performed by William 
L. Todd of Illinois. The grizzly bear was chosen as an em¬ 
blem of strength and unyielding i-esistance.’ 

“James G. Bleak.” 












56 


THE SETTLERS ORGANIZE THEIR FORCES 


W. B. IDES REMARKABLE SPEECH. 

The garrison being now in possession, it was necessary to 
elect officers; therefore, Henry L. Ford was elected First Lieu¬ 
tenant; Granville P. Swift, First Sergeant; and Samuel Gibson, 
Second Sergeant. Sentries were posted and a system of mili¬ 
tary routine inaugurated. In the forenoon, while on parade, 
Lieutenant Ford addressed the company in these words:— 

“ My countrymen! We have taken upon ourselves a very 
responsible duty. We have entered into a war with the Mexi¬ 
can nation. We are bound to defend each other or be shot! 
There's no half-way place about it. Each of you has had a 
voice in choosing your officers. Now they are chosen they 
must be obeyed!” 

To which the entire band responded that the authority of 
the officers should be supported. For point and brevity this 
is almost equal to the speech put in the mouths of some of his 
military heroes by Tacitus, the great Roman historian. 

CAPTAIN IDE ORGANIZES THE FORCES. 

The words of William B. Ide throw further light upon the ma¬ 
chinery of the civil-military force: “The men were divided 
into two companies of ten men each. The First Artillery were 
busily engaged in putting the cannons in order, which were 
doubly charged with grape and canister. The First Rifle 
Company were busied in cleaning, repairing and loading the 
small arms. The commander, after setting a guard and post¬ 
ing a sentinel on one of the highest buildings to watch the 
approach of any persons who might feel a curiosity to inspect 
our operations, directed his leisure to the establishment of some 
system of finance, whereby all the defenders’ families might be 
brought within the lines of our garrison and supported. Ten 
thousand pounds of flour were purchased on the credit of the 
Government, and deposited with the garrison. And an account 
was opened, on terms agreed upon, for a supply of beef and a 
few barrels of salt which constituted our main supplies. Whisky 
was conti-abanded altogether. After the first round of duties was 
performed, as many as could be spared off guard, were called 
together and our situation fully explained to the men bv the 
commanders of the garrison. 

Will S. Green says: “We have seen it stated by some writ¬ 
ers, that Capt. John Grigsby was chosen to the command 
after the capture of Sonoma, and also that Ide was so chosen 
but both of them Avent with the prisoners to Sutter’s Fort. We 
have talked with both Ide and Semple about the Bear Flag 
War, and we are certain that Ide was not the military com¬ 
mander, but that it was in a civil capacity that he issued 
the proclamation above given. Ford, although nominally a 
Lieutenant, was the real military leader of the Bear Flag Party. 
He had served four years as Sergeant in the U. S. Dragoons, 
and understood the drill and discipline better than those more 
able to direct the policy to be pursued. Ide and Semple were 
the leaders in that.” 


A messenger Avas dispatched to San Francisco to inform 
Captain Montgomery, of the United States ship Portsmouth , 
of the action taken by them, he further stating that it was the 
intention of the insurgents never to lay down their arms until 
the independence of their adopted country had been established. 

A TRAGIC AND FEARFUL DEATH. 

Lieutenant Ford finding that the magazine Avas short of 
powder, sent two men, named Cowie and Fowler, to the Soto- 
yome Rancho, at Healdsburg, owned by H. D. Fitch, for a bag 
of rifle powder. Two miles from Santa Rosa, they Avere 
attacked and slaughtered by a party of Californians. Tavo 
others were dispatched on special duty; they, too, were cap¬ 
tured, but were treated better. Receiving no intelligence from 
either of the parties, foul play was suspected; therefore on the 
morning of the 20th of June, Sergeant Gibson was ordered, 
with four men, to proceed to the Sotoyome Rancho, learn if 
possible, the whereabouts of the missing men, and procure the 
powder. They went as directed, secured the ammunition, but 
got no news of the missing men. As they were passing Santa 
Rosa, on their return, they were attacked at daylight by a few 
Californians, and turning upon their assailants, captured tAvo 
of them, Bias Angelina and Barnadino Garcia, alias Three¬ 
fingered Jack, and took them to Sonoma. Thev told of the 
taking and slaying of CoAvie and Fowler. 

The story of their death is a sad one. After Cowie and 
Fowler had been seized by the Californians, they encamped for 
the night, and the following morning determined in council 
what should be the fate of their captives. A swarthy New 
Mexican named Mesa Juan Pedilla, and Three-fingered Jack, 
the Californian, were loudest in their denunciation of the pris¬ 
oners as deserAnng of death; and, unhappily, their counsels 
prevailed. The unfortunate young men were then led out, 
stripped naked, bound to a tree with a lariat, while for a time, 
the inhuman monsters practiced knife-throwing at their naked 
bodies, the victims, the while, praying to be shot. They then 
commenced throwing stones at them, one of which broke the 
jaw of Fowler. The fiend, Three-fingered Jack, then advanc¬ 
ing, thrust the end of his riata (a rawhide rope) through the 
mouth, cut an incision in the throat, and then made a tie, by 
Avhich the jaw Avas dragged out. They next proceeded to kill 
them slowly with their knives. Cowie, who had fainted, had 
the flesh stripped from his arms and shoulders, and pieces of 
flesh were cut from their bodies and crammed into their mouths 
they finally being disemboweled. Their mutilated remains 
were afterwards found and buried where they fell, upon the 
farm now owned by George Moore, tAvo miles north of Santa 
Rosa. 

No stone marks the graA’e of these pioneers, one of whom 
took so conspicuous a part in the event which gave to the 
Union the great State of California. 

Three-fingered Jack was killed by Captain Harry Love’s 
Rangers, July 27, 1853, at Pinola Pass, near the Merced River. 













Residence of o.l.wilson. near king's river.tulare co.cal 


NORMAN ST A LLIO N /'ENTERPRisOWNED BY A. H. SANDERS. BREEDER OF NORMAN HORSES.^^U. 




















































































































PROCLAMATION FOR REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT. 


57 



and San Diego, May 21, 1804. 


W. B. IDE’S PROCLAMATON. 

At Sonoma Capt. William B. Ide, with the consent of the 
garrison, issued the following :— 

“ A Proclamation to all persons and citizens of the District 

of Sonoma, requesting them to remain at peace, and follow 

their rightful occupations without fear of molestation. 

“The commander-in-chief of the troops assembled at the 
fortress of Sonoma, gives his inviolable pledge to all persons in 
California, not found under arms, that they shall not be dis¬ 
turbed in their persons, their property, or social relations, one 
with another, by men under his command. 

“ He also solemnly declares his object to be: first, to defend 
himself and companions in arms, who were invited to this coun¬ 
try by a promise of lands on which to settle themselves and 
families; who Avere also promised a republican goverement; 
Avhen, having arrived in California, they were denied the priv¬ 
ilege of buying or renting lands of their friends; who instead 
of being allowed to participate in, or being protected by a 
republican government, were oppressed by a military despot¬ 
ism; who were even threatened by proclamation, by the chief 
officers of the aforesaid despotism, with extermination, if they 
should not depart out of the country, leaving all their prop¬ 
erty, arms, and beasts of burden; and thus deprived of their 
means of flight or defense, were to be driven through deserts 
inhabited by hostile Indians, to certain destruction. 

“ To overthrow a government which has seized upon the prop¬ 
erty of the missions for its individual aggrandizement; which 
has ruined and shamefully oppressed the laboring people of 
California, by enormous exactions on goods imported into the 
country, is the determined purpose of the brave men Avho are 
associated under my command. 

“I also solemnly declare my object, in the second place, to be 
to invite all peaceable and good citizens of California, who are 
friendly to the maintenance of good order and equal rights, 
and I do hereby invite them to repair to my camp at Sonoma, 
without delay, to assist us in establishing and perpetuating a 
republican government, which shall secure to all civil and 
religious liberty; which shall encourage virtue and literature; 
which shall leave unshackled by fetters agriculture, commerce, 
and manufactures. 

“ I further declare that I rely upon the rectitude of our inten¬ 
tions, the favor of heaven, and the bra\ T ery of those who are 
bound and associated with me by the principles of self-preserva¬ 
tion, by the love of truth and the hatred of tyranny, for my 
hopes of success. 

“ I furthermore declare that I believe that a government to 
be prosperous and happy must originate with the people who 


are friendly to its existence; that the citizens are its guardians, 
the officers its servants, its glory its reward. 

“ William B. Ide. 

“Headquarters, Sonoma, June IS, 1846.” 

JUDGE W. B. IDE’S HISTORY. 

Capt. William B. Ide was born in Ohio; came overland, 
reaching Sutter’s Fort in October, 1845. June 7, 1847, Gov¬ 
ernor Mason appointed him land surveyor for the northern 
district of California, and the same month he was appointed 
Justice of the Peace at Cache Creek. At an early day he got 
a grant of land Avhich was called the Rancho Barranca Colo- 
rado, just below Red Creek, in Colusa County, as it was then 
organized. In 1851 he Avas elected County Treasurer, with an 
assessment roll of $373,206. Moved with the county seat to 
Monroeville, at the mouth of Stony Creek, September 3,1851; 
Avas elected County Judge of Colusa County, and practiced 
Hav, having a license. Judge Ide died of small-pox at Mon- 
roeville, Colusa County, on Saturday, December 18, 1852, aged 
fifty years. 

ANECDOTE OF JUDGE IDE.* 

Ide was the presiding Judge and Deputy Clerk, and Huls 
Avas Associate Justice and Deputy Sheriff. The prisoner Avas 
brought into court by Huls, and the indictment read to him by 
Ide as Clerk. He was on trial for horse-stealing; the penalty 
at that time was death. The Judge mounted the bench and 
informed the prisoner of his rights, including that of having 
counsel assigned him for his defense. This the prisoner asked. 
Here Avas a dilemma. There Avas no licensed attorney, nearer 
than Butte County, to be had. The Court (Ide and two'Asso¬ 
ciate Judges) held a consultation on the situation. Ide, how¬ 
ever, Avas alAvays equal to any emergency, and he suggested 
that he himself had been o\av at Hamilton a few days before 
attending Judge Sherwood’s Court, and had been admitted as a 
practicing attorney, and he did not see Avhy he should not 
defend the prisoner. 

This Avas suggested to the defendant at the bar, Avho Avas 
delighted with the arrangement of being defended by the pre¬ 
siding Judge. There being no District Attorney present, it 
Avas expected that the presiding Judge would also look out for 
the interests of the people. With the Court thus organized, the 
trial began. Ide would question the witnesses, raise his points 
of laAV on either side, and then get on the bench to help decide 
them, take exceptions to his own ruling, and then as Clerk 
make the entries. 

When the testimony Avas all in Ide addressed the jury, pre¬ 
senting first the side of the prosecution, and then of the defense, 
winding up Avith a plea for mercy. Then he got on the bench 
again, and instructed the jury calmly and impartially as to the 
law in the case. The jury retired, and in a few moments 
brought in a verdict of “ guilty.” 

'Written by Will S. Green, of the Colusa Sun, for Elliott’s History of 
! Colusa Cuunty. 





















58 


THE RAISING OE THE AMERICAN FLAG 


When the time for sentence came, the Judge ordered the 
prisoner to stand up, and he addressed him in substance as 
follows: “You have had a fair and impartial trial by a jury of 
your peers. You have been ably defended by counsel appointed 
by this Court. The jury have found you guilty of grand 
larceny, the penalty of which, under the benign laws of this 
State, is death. It is, therefore, the judgment of this Court 
that you be taken by the Shei'iff to some convenient place, on 

the — day of-, and then and there hanged by the neck, 

until you are dead, dead, dead, and may the Lord have mercy 
on your soul.” 

Turning to Associate Huls, he ordered the Sheriff" to take 
charge of the prisoner. A day or so before that set for the 
execution Huls went over after his prisoner, but found that he 
had been pardoned out by the Governor, without the officers of 
Colusa County knowing anything about it. 

ONLY FIGHT UNDER THE BEAR FLAG. 

1846.—The only real fight of the war occurred on the twenty- 
fifth of June, between a body of about eighty Californians and 
some twenty men under command of Lieutenant Ford. These 
few men were put to flight, and continued their march across 
the bay. Fremont arrived at Sonoma two days after the fight, 
still hesitating,. He wanted, so we are told by Semple and 
Ide, (who informed Will S. Green, of Colusa,) to occupy a posi¬ 
tion where he might reap the benefit of a victory and not suffer 
from defeat. 

After the return of the Californians across the bay, the Bear 
Flag Party urged Fremont to capture the ship Moscow, then 
lying at Saucelito, cross the bay, capture Castro, and by one 
bold stroke end the war. Captain Phelp, of the Moscow, was 
in full sympathy with the movement, and even went so far as 
to put a lot of provisions on a launch near enough to them to 
be captured by the party of revolutionists. 

Com. John D. Sloat took possession of Monterey, and 
three days afterwards the Bear Flag Party heard of it, and the 
Stars and Stripes took the place of the Bear at Sonoma. 

AMERICAN FLAG RAISED IN MONTEREY. 

On Saturday, July 11, 1846, came the astounding news 
from Monterey that Commodore Sloat had arrived there 
in the United States frigate Savannah, and had raised the 
United States flag, and had taken possession of the country in 
consequence of war, which had broken out between the United 
States and Mexico. It was understood that Commodore Sloat 
requested Captain Fremont to go with all possible dispatch to 
Monterey. 

The United States flag was raised in Monterey on July 7th. 
If the messenger started immediately, he was four days on his 
way to Fremont’s camp. But Fremont appears to have been 
nine days on the way to Monterey, reaching there on Sunday, 
July 19th. If the question is asked, why this slowness, when 


speed would be so certainly looked for, the reply must be that 
no answer is apparent. 

CAPTURE OF MONTEREY* 

“ Concerning the capture of Montei'ey,” sa}^s Will S. Green, 
“ we were fortunate enough to hear the recital by Commodore 
Sloat himself. War was anticipated between the United States 
and Mexico long before it occurred, and Commodore Jones, 
then in command on this coast, was instructed to take Monte¬ 
rey, the capital of California, as soon as he heard hostilities had 
commenced. As we have seen, he acted too hurriedly, and, on 
the instance of the American Minister, he was removed. Sloat, 
who succeeded, had the same instructions, and was lying at 
Mazatlan with a frigate and sloop-of-war anxiously watching 
the sio-ns of the times. It was known that there was an 

O 

arrangement with England to take possession of California, 
and hold it for Mexico in case of war. Admiral Seymour, of 
the British navy, with the line-o’-battle ship Collingwood, was 
also at Mazatlan waiting ordei's. One day Seymour got dis¬ 
patches, and Sloat got none. Sloat set a watch on the Admi¬ 
ral’s movements, and found him in close consultation with the 
leading Mexicans, who avoided the American commander. He 
guessed that hostility had commenced, and when Seymour went 
on board his vessel and began to make ready for departure, he 
felt certain of the fact; and the white sails of the Collingwood 
had not disappeared in the distance before the two small Amer¬ 
ican vessels were under way for Monterey. Every possible 
inch of canvas was spread and a quick voyage was made. On 
arriving at Monterey a demand was made for the surrender of 
the place, which was complied with without the firing of a 
gun. In a day or so the lookout announced the approach of 
the Collingwood. Not knowing how the Admiral would inter¬ 
pret his order to take possession of Monterey, the Commodore 
had his two small vessels got in readiness for action. The 
huge Englishman sailed up between the two American vessels 
and dropped anchor. Sloat sent an officer on board with his 
compliments to the Admiral, and the latter came in person to see 
the Commodore. He told Sloat that he knew that he had received 
no official information of the existence of war, and added that no 
officer in the British navy would have taken the responsibility 
he had done. He then asked Sloat, in a sort of bantering way, 
what he would have done if he had come into port and found 
the British flag flying. “ I would have had you sink these two 
little ships for me,” was the Commodore’s reply. It was thus 
owing to the prompt action and courage of Commodore Sloat 
that we became possessed of California. 

WHERE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG WAS RAISED. 

“ The soil of San Benito County claims the honor of 

having sustained the first American flag of conquest ever 

unfurled to a California ‘breeze,’ General Fremont having 

© 

*More fully given in the local “ History of Colusa County,” by Elliott & Co. 
















PROGRESS OF THE BEAR FLAG WAR. 


59 


floated the United States flag on the Gabilan Peak in March, 
1846.” 

Judge James F. Breen, one of the survivors of the Donner 
party, in preparing a history for us of San Benito County, says: 
“ This statement has been often challenged as not being a his- 
torical fact. But I believe a careful examination of the facts 
connected with the conquest and possession of California by 
the United States will j ustify the above assertion.” 

General Fremont had been ordered out of the country by 
General Castro. Matters began to look serious, and Captain 
Fremont concluded to retire, at his leisure, however, but to leave 
nothing undone to make an available defense if attacked. He 
accoi'dingly abandoned the Mission of San Juan, and led his 
company, with their horses, provisions, and such munitions of 
war as he had, up the steep acclivities leading to the Gabilan, 
or Fremont’s Peak, as it is often and more appropriately called, 
which overlooks the towns of Hollister and San Juan. He 
there camped, erected a flag-staff and unfurled the Stars and 
Stripes, and calmly awaited the attack. But the attack was 
not delivered. 

The spot where Captain Fremont halted his company, and 
raised the flag, is on the San Benito side of the division line 
between Monterey and San Benito Counties; and the prom¬ 
inent peak which rises just above the spot is to-day better known 
as Fremont’s Peak than as the Gabilan Peak, as it was called 
by the Californians. And so it is that San Benito County 
claims, with justice, that her soil supported the first American 
flag of conquest that was ever unfurled to a California breeze. 
It is to be borne in mind that Commodore Sloat did not raise 
the American flag over Monterey until July 10, 1846; and 
that the famous “ Bear Flag,” which was American in senti¬ 
ment if not in design, was not raised by Ide at Sonoma until 
June of the same year. 

WAR DECLARED AGAINST MEXICO. 

In the meantime Congress had (unknown to these parties) 
declared war against Mexico, and an expedition 1,600 strong, 
under Gen. Stephen W. Kearney, was traversing the conti¬ 
nent in the direction of the Pacific. Simultaneously with 
Fremont’s action in the north, Commodore Sloat seized upon 
Monterey; and his successor—Commodore Stockton—prepared 
at once for the reduction of the then principal city of Los 
Angeles. 

CAPTURE OF LOS ANGELES. 

n 

With this end in view he organized a battalion of mounted 
riflemen, of which Fremont was appointed Major, and Gilles¬ 
pie Captain. This force was embarked on the sloop-of-war 
Cyane , and dispatched to San Diego with orders to co-operate 
with the Commodore in his proposed movement on the Ciudad 
de Los Angeles. On August 1st Stockton sailed in the Con¬ 
gress, *and on the sixth arrived at San Pedro, having taken 
possession of Santa Barbara on his way. He now learned that 


the enemy under Generals Castro and Andres Pico were strongly 
posted near Los Angeles with a force estimated at 1,500 men. 
He learned further that Major Fremont had landed at San 
Diego, but was unable to procure horses, and therefore could 
not join him. In the absence of Fremont’s battalion, Stockton 
was wholly destitute of cavalry; yet, impressed with the 
importance of celerity of movement, he disembarked his men. 
The force consisted only of from 300 to 400 marines, wholly 
ignorant of military drill; and their only artillery—six small 
guns, rudely mounted and dragged by hand. 

A few da} T s after landing, a flag of truce approached over the 
hills, borne by commissioners from Castro. Desiring to impress 
these with an exaggerated idea of the strength of his force, 
Stockton directed his little army to march at intervals of 
twenty or thirty paces apart, to a position where they would 
be sheltered from observation. In this manner the commis¬ 
sioners were completely deceived, and when on their arrival 
they were marched up to the mouth of an immense mortar, 
shrouded in skins save its huge aperture, their terror and dis- 
I comfiture were plainly discernible. 

Stockton received them with a stern and forbidding coun¬ 
tenance, harshly demanding their mission, which they disclosed 
in great confusion. They bore a letter from Castro proposing 
a truce; each party to hold its own possessions until a general 
pacification should be had. This proposal Stockton rejected 
with contempt, and dismissed the commissioners with the assur¬ 
ance that only an immediate disbandment of his forces and an 
unconditional surrender, would shield Castro. 

CALIFORNIA DECLARED A U. S. TERRITORY. 

After some skirmishing of the two forces Castro surrendered, 
and the soldiers were permitted to go at large on their parole 
of honor—not again to bear arms against the United States. 
Commodore Stockton now issued a proclamation declaring 
California a territory of the L T nited States; and, as all resist¬ 
ance had ceased, proceeded to organize a civil and military 
government, himself retaining the position of Commander-in-, 
chief and Governor. 

About this time Stockton first learned that war had been 
declared between the United States and Mexico; and leaving 
fifty men under command of Lieut. A. H. Gillespie to gar¬ 
rison Los Angeles, he proceeded north, to look after affairs in 
that quarter. Thus the whole great territory of Upper Cali¬ 
fornia had been subjected to American rule without bloodshed 
I or even the firing of a gun. 

TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED. 

The treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico 
was signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, February 2, 1848; ratifica¬ 
tions were exchanged at Queretaro, May 30th, following. 
Under this treaty the United States assumed the Mexican debt 
to American subjects, and paid into the Mexican Treasury 
















60 


CALIFORNIA IN A TRANSITION STATE. 


$15,000,000 iu money, receiving in exchange Texas, New 
Mexico, and Upper California, and the right of free navigation 
on the Colorado River and the Gulf of California. 

FIRST AMERICAN GOVERNOR. 

• 

1846.—Sloat proclaimed himself Governor of California, and 
acted as such until the 17th of August, 1846, when he was 
superseded by Com. R. F. Stockton, who commenced at 
once a vigorous campaign against the Mexicans under Flores, 
whom he defeated January 8 and 9, 1847. In January, 1847, 
Stockton appointed Fremont Governor, but this of right 
belonged to Gen. S. W. Kearney, who, on March 1st, 
assumed that office. He was succeeded by Colonel Mason in 
May, and on the 15th of April, 1849, Gen. Bennett Riley was 
appointed Governor, and continued in office until he was suc¬ 
ceeded by Peter H. Burnett, under the State Constitution. 

CALIFORNIA IN TRANSITION. 

The year 1846 was the crisis-year in the destiny of California. 
In looking back on the events of that year, touching this 
country, from this distance of time, their main purpose stands 
out clearly revealed, as it did not when those events were trans¬ 
piring. It is plain enough now, that they were inspired from 
Washington. 

The Government of the United States had kept a careful 
watch of what was going on on this coast for many years. 
Ever after the famous explorations of Lewis and Clarke, who 
were sent out by President Jefferson, in 1804, our Government 
had kept itself thoroughly informed of everything that con¬ 
cerned California. 

The hopes of England to acquire California were also well 
known, and all her movements having that end in view, were 
carefully observed. 

Meanwhile the Government at Washington continued to 
seek all possible information concerning this country, then so 
remote and unexplored. Thomas O. Larkin, who came here 
from Massachusetts in 1832, seems to have had a fancy and a 
tact for gathering up facts and statistics. These he freely 
communicated to the Government. 

By this means, as well as in other ways, they were made 
acquainted, not only with the geography and natural resources 
of the country, but with its inhabitants, both the native born 
and the foreign. 

THE DONNER PARTY. 

The following incidents were furnished us by Superior Judge 
Breen, of Hollister, one of the survivors of the party:— 

There are many stories of human trial and suffering whose 
deep interest no amount of repetition can render stale, and such 
a story is the record of the ill-fated party of immigrants which 
furnished the actors in the terrible tragedy of Donner Lake. 
Portions of the tale have been written by many hands. They 
have differed widely, and many have been plainly colored for 
effect. 


The story of the Donner party, in its general features, is too 
well known on this coast to need repetition. Too many suffered 
the hardships of crossing the plains to allow the recollections of 
those days to die out. For years after the great rush of immi¬ 
gration in ’49 no story was told more frequently or was listened 
to with more eager interest than the misfortunes of that party. 

The Donner party proper was formed in Sangamon County, 
Illinois,and was composed of ninety persons. Numerous additions 
were made to the train on its way, and when it left Independ¬ 
ence, Missouri, it numbered between 200 and 300 wagons, and 
was over two miles in length. The journey to Salt Lake was made 
without any noticeable incidents, save the extreme slowness of 
the march. At Fort Bridger the woes of the Donner party 
began. Eighty-seven persons—the survivors of the original 
ninety—determined to go by way of the Hastings Cut-off, 
instead of following the old trail. The remainder of the train 
clung to the old route, and reached California in safety. The 
cut-off was by way of Weber Canon and was said to rejoin the 
old emigrant road on the Humboldt, making a saving of 300 
miles. It proved to be in a wretched condition, and the record 
of the party from this time was one long series of disasters. 
Their oxen became exhausted—they were forced to make 
frequent halts; the stock of provisions ran low. Finally, in the 
Salt Lake Desert, the emigrants saw plainly that they would 
never reach the Pacific Coast without assistance. Two of their 
number were despatched with letters to Captain Sutter implor¬ 
ing aid. 

THE FATAL REST. 

At the present site of Reno, the party concluded to rest. 
Three or four days’ time was lost. This was the fatal act, 
The storm-clouds were already brewing upon the mountains, 
only a few miles distant. The ascent was ominous. Thick and 
thicker grew the clouds, outstripping in threatening battalions 
the now eager feet of the alarmed emigrants, until at Prosser 
Creek, three miles below Truckee, October 28, 1846, a month 
earlier than usual, the storm set in, and they found themselves 
in six inches of newly-fallen snow. On the summit it was 
already from two to five feet deep. 

The party, in much confusion, finally reached Donner Lake 
in disordered fragments. Frequent and desperate attempts 
were made to cross the mountain tops, but at last, baffled and 
despairing, they returned to camp at the lake. The storm 
now descended in all its pitiless fury upon the ill-fated immi¬ 
grants. Its dreadful import was well understood, as laden 
with omens of suffering and death. With slight interruptions, 
the storm continued for several days. The animals were liter¬ 
ally buried alive and frozen in the drifts. Meat was hastily 
prepared from their carcasses, and cabins rudely built. One 
cabin (Moses Schallenberger’s, now a resident of San Jose), 
erected November, 1844, was already standing about a quarter 
of a mile below the lake. This the Breen family appropriated. 
Judge Breen, now of San Juan, gives his reminiscences of the 











# 


































































































































































































































































































































THE TRAGIC FATE OF THE DONNER PARTY. 


til 


Donner party in our history of San Benito County. The Mur¬ 
phys erected one 300 yards from the lake, marked by a large 
stone twelve feet high. The Graves family built theirs near 
Donner Creek, farther down the stream, the three forming the 
apexes of a triangle, and distant 150 yards or more. 

The Donner Brothers, with their families, hastily constructed 
a brush shed in Alder Creek Valley, six or seven miles from the 
lake. 

The Mr. Donner who had charge of one company, was an 
Illinoisian, sixty years of age, a man of high respectability and 
abundant means. His wife was a woman of education and 
refinement, and much younger than he. 

Of course these were soon utterly destitute of food, for they 
could not tell where the cattle were buried, and there was no 
hope of game on a desert so piled with snow that nothing 
without wings could move. The number of those who were 
thus storm-stayed, at the very threshold of the land whose 
winters are one long spring, was eighty, of whom thirty were 
females, and several, children. Much of the time the tops of 
the cabins were below the snow level. 

FORLORN HOPE RESCUE PARTY. 

It was six weeks after the halt was made that a party of 
fifteen, including five women and two Indians, who acted as 
guides, set out on show-shoes to cross the mountains, and give 
notice to the people of the California settlements of the condi¬ 
tion of their friends. At fii’st the snow was so light and 
feathery that even in snow-shoes they sank nearly a foot at 
every step. On the second day they crossed the “ divide,” 
finding the snow at the summit twelve feet deep. Pushing 
forward with the courage of despair, they made from four to 
eight miles a day. 

Within a week they got entirely out of provisions; and three 
of them, succumbing to cold, weariness, and starvation, had 
died. Then a heavy snow-storm came on, which compelled 
them to lie still, buried between their blankets under the snow, 
for thirty-six hours. By the evening of the tenth day three 
more had died, and the living had been four days without food. 
The horrid alternative was accepted—they took the flesh from 
the bones of their dead, remained in camp two days to dry it, 
and then pushed on. 

On New Year’s, the sixteenth day since leaving Truckee 
Lake, they were toiling up a steep mountain. Their feet were 
frozen. Every step was marked with blood. On the second of 
January, their food again gave out. On the 3d, they had 
nothing to eat but the strings of their snow-shoes. On the 4th, 
the Indians eloped, justly suspicious that they might be sacri¬ 
ficed for food. On the 5th, they shot a deer, and that day one 
of their number died. Soon after three others died, and every 
death now eked out the existence of the survivors. On the 
17th, all gave out, and concluded their wanderings useless, 
except one. He, guided by two friendly Indians, dragged him¬ 


self on till he reached Johnson’s Ranch on Bear River, the first 
settlement on the western slope of the Sierras, when relief was 
sent back as soon as possible, and the remaining six survivors 
were brought in next day. It had been thirty-two days since 
they left Donner Lake. No tongue can tell, no pen portray, 
the awful suffering, the terrible and appalling straits, as well as 
the noble deeds of heroism that characterized this march of 
death. The eternal mountains, whose granite faces bore wit¬ 
ness to their sufferings, are fit monuments to mark the last 
resting-place of this heroic party. 

SEVERAL RELIEF PARTIES FITTED OUT. 

The story that there were immigrants perishing on the 
other side of the snowy barrier, ran swiftly down the Sacra¬ 
mento Valley to New Helvetia, and Captain Sutter, at his own 
expense, fitted out an expedition of men and of mules ladened 
with provisions, to cross the mountains and relieve them. It 
ran on to San Francisco, and the people rallying in public 
meeting, raised 81,500, and with it fitted out another expedi¬ 
tion. The naval commandant of the port fitted out still others. 

First of the relief parties, under Capt. J. P. Tucker, 
reached Truckee Lake on the 19th of February. Ten of 
the people in the nearest camp were dead. For four weeks 
those who were still alive had fed only on bullocks’ hides. At 
Donner’s camp they had but one hide remaining. The visitors 
left a small supply of provisions with the twenty-nine whom 
they could not take with them and started back with the re¬ 
mainder. Four of the children they carried on their backs. 

Second of the relief parties, under J. F. Reed, reached Truckee 
Lake on the 1st of March. They immediately started back 
with seventeen of the sufferers; but, a heavy snow-storm over¬ 
taking them, they left all, except three of the children, on the 
road. 

The third party, under John Stark, went after those who 
were left on the way; found three of them dead, and the rest 
sustaining life by feeding on the flesh of the dead. 

THE LAST SURVIVOR. 

Last relief party reached Donner’s camp late in April, when 
the snows had melted so that the earth appeared in spots. 
The main cabin was empty, but some miles distant they found 
the last survivor of all lying on the cabin floor smoking his 
pipe. “He was ferocious in aspect, savage and repulsive in 
manner. His camp-kettle was over the fire and in it his meal 
of human flesh preparing. The stripped bones of his fellow- 
sufferers lay around him. He refused to return with the party, 
and only consented when he saw there was no escape.” 

This person was Louis Keseberg, who has been execrated as 
a cannibal, and whose motive in remaining behind has been 
ascribed to plunder. Never until now has he made any at¬ 
tempt to refute these stories. He says:— 

“For nearly two months I was alone in that dismal cabin. 












'■'HE TRAGIC FATE OF THE DONNER PARTY. 


02 


* * * Five of my companions had died in my cabin, and their 
stark and ghastly bodies lay there day and night, seemingly 
gazing at me with their glazed and staring eyes. I was 
too weak to move them had I tried. 1 endured a thousand 
deaths. To have one’s suffering prolonged inch by inch to be 
deserted, forsaken, hopeless; to see that loathsome food ever 
before my e 3 T es was almost too much for human endurance.” 

For two months he lived there entirely alone, boiling the 
flesh of his dead companions. When the last relief party came 
they found him the sole survivor. 

If he were guilty of the crimes charged to him he has cer¬ 
tainly paid the penalty. To use his own words: “Wherever I 
have gone people have cried, ‘ Stone him! stone him! ’ Even 
little children in the streets have mocked me and thrown 
stones at me as I passed. Only a man conscious of his own 
innocence would not have succumbed to the terrible things 
which have been said of me—would not have committed sui¬ 
cide. Mortification, disgrace, disaster, and unheard-of misfor¬ 
tune have followed and overwhelmed me.” 

Keseberg has lost several fortunes, and is now living in pov¬ 
erty at Brighton, Sacramento County, with two idiotic chil¬ 
dren. 

FATE OF DONNER AND WIFE. 

When the third relief party arrived at Donner Lake, the 
sole survivors at Alder Creek were George Donner, the Cap¬ 
tain of the company, and his heroic wife, whose devotion to 
her dying husband caused her own death during the last and 
fearful da} r s of waiting for the fourth relief. George Donner 
knew that he was dying, and urged his wife to save her life 
and go with her little ones with the third relief, but she refused. 
Nothing was more heart-rending than her sad parting with her be¬ 
loved little ones, who wound their childish arms lovingly around 
her neck, and besought her with mingled tears and kisses to 
join them. But duty prevailed over affection, and she retraced 
the weary distance to die with him whom she had promised 
to love and honor to the end. 

Mrs. Donner was the last to die. Her husband’s bod} r , care¬ 
fully laid out and wrapped in a sheet, was found in his tent. 
Circumstances led to the suspicion that the survivor (Kese¬ 
berg) had killed Mrs. Donner for her flesh and her money; and 
when “he was threatened with hanging, and the rope tight¬ 
ened around his neck, he produced over five hundred dollars 
in gold, which probably he had appropriated from her store.” 

STRANGE AND EVENTFUL DREAM. 

George Yount was the pioneer settler of Napa County. He, 
in the winter of 1846, dreamed that a party of immigrants 
were snow-bound in the Sierra Nevadas, high up in the mount¬ 
ains, where.they were suffering the most distressing priva¬ 
tions from cold and want of food. The locality where his 
dream had placed these unhappy mortals, he had never vis¬ 
ited, yet so clear was his vision that he described the sheet of 


water surrounded by lofty peaks, deep-covered with snow, 
while on every hand towering pine trees reared their heads 
far above the limitless waste. In his sleep he saw the hungry 
human beings ravenously tear the flesh from the bones of their 

t 

fellow-creatures, slain to satisfy their craving appetites, in the 
midst of a gloomy desolation. He dreamed his dream on 
three successive nights, after which he related it to others, 
among whom were a few who had been on hunting expeditions 
to the Sierras. These wished for a precise description of the 
scene foreshadowed to him. They recognized the Truckee, 
now the Donner Lake. On the strength of this recognition, 
Mr. Yount fitted out a search expedition, and with these men 
as guides, went to the place indicated; and prodigious to re¬ 
late, was one of the successful relieving parties to reach the 
ill-fated Donner Party. 

Of the eighty-seven persons who reached Donner Lake, only 
forty-eight escaped. Of these twenty-six are known to be 
living in this State and in Oregon. 

SCENE OF THE DISASTER. 

The best description of the scene of the disaster was given 
by Edwin Bryant, who accompanied General Kearney’s expe¬ 
dition in 1847 to bury the remains. He says: “ Near the prin¬ 
cipal cabins, I saw two bodies entire, with the exception that 
the abdomens had been cut open and the entrails extracted. 
The flesh had been either wasted by famine or evaporated by ex¬ 
posure to the. dry atmosphere, and they presented the appearance 
of mummies. Strewn around the cabins were dislocated and 
broken skulls (in some instances sawed asunder with care for 
the purpose of extracting the brains), human skeletons, in short, 
in every variety of mutilation. A more revolting and appall¬ 
ing spectacle I never witnessed. The cabins were burned, the 
bodies buried, and now there is nothing to mark the place save 
the tall stumps, from ten to twenty feet in height, which sur¬ 
round some of the rocks on the lake’s shore.” 

TRIALS OF THE PIONEERS. 

It was in the few years prior to the discovery of gold that the 
genuine pioneers of California braved the unknown dangers of 
the plains and mountains, with the intention of settling in the 
fair valley, of which so much was said and so little known, and 
building a home for themselves and their children. Many of 
these immigrants crossed the mountains by nearly the same 
route pursued by the Central Pacific Railroad, except that 
they followed down Bear River to the plains. 

The first settlement reached by them was that of Theodore 
Sicard, at Johnson’s Crossing, on the Placer County side, and a 
few miles below Camp Far West. This settlement was made 
in 1844, and was the first point reached by the members of the 
ill-starred Donner Party in 1847. Opposite Sicard’s settlement 
was Johnson’s ranch, owned by William Johnson and Sebas¬ 
tian Kyser, who settled there in 1845. Johnson’s Crossing was 
for years a favorite landmark and rallying point. 













tiie early discovery oe gold 


63 


The Discovery of Gold. 

No history of the State, or of a county in California would 
be complete without a record of the rush to this coast at the 
time of what is so aptly termed the “gold fever.” 

The finding of gold at Coloma by Marshall was not the real 
discovery of the precious metal in the territory. But the time 
and circumstances connected with it, together with the existing 
state of affairs, caused the rapid dissemination of the news. 
People were ready and eager for some new excitement, and this 
proved to be the means of satisfying the desire. From all 
parts of California, the coast of the United States, and in fact 


the world, poured in vast hordes of gold-seekers. The precious 
metal had been found in many places. 

DR. SANDELS’ SEARCH FOR GOLD. 

1843.—In the summer of 1843, there came to this coast from 
England, a very learned gentleman named Dr. Sandels. He 
was a Swede by birth. Soon after his arrival on this coast, 
the Doctor visited Captain Sutter. The Captain alwa 3 r s 
thought there must be mineral in the country, and requested 
Dr. Sandels to go out into the mountains and find him a gold 
mine; the Doctor discouraged him by relating his experience 
in Mexico, and the uncertainty of mining operations, as far as 
his knowledge extended, in Mexico, Brazil, and other parts of 
South America. He advised Sutter never to think of having 
anything to do with the mines; that the best mine was the soil, 
which was inexhaustible. However, at Sutter’s solicitation, 
Dr. Sandels went up through his grant to Hock Farm, and i 


thence to the Butte Mountains up the Sacramento Valley, as 
far as the location of Chico. 

While passing over the black adobe land lying between the 
Butte Mountains and Butte Creek, which resembled the gold 
wash in Brazil, Dr. Sandels remarked: “ Judging from the 
Butte Mountains, I believe that there is gold in this country, 
but I do not think there will ever be enough to pay for the 
working.” Dr. Sandels was hurried, as the vessel upon which 
he was to take passage was soon to sail, and he could not spare 
the time to pursue his search to any more definite end. 

GEN. BIDWELL KNEW OF GOID. 

1844.—When General Bid well was in charge of Hock Farm, 
in the month of March or April, 1844, a Mexican by the name 


of Pablo Gutteirez was with him, having immediate supervis¬ 
ion of the Indian vaqueros, taking care of the stock on the 
plains, “ breaking ” wild horses, and performing other duties 
common to a California rancho. This Mexican had some 
knowledge of gold mining in Mexico, where he had lived, and 
after returning from the mountains on Bear River at the time 
mentioned, he informed General Bidwell that there was gold 
up there. 

As heretofore mentioned, Dr. Marsh describes gold and sil¬ 
ver mines as early as 1842. 

SUTTER’S SAW-MILL CONSTRUCTED. 

1847.—Captain Sutter alwayshadan unconquerable desire for 
the possession of a saw-mill, by which he could himself furnish 
the necessary material for the construction of more improved 
buildings than the facilities of the country could at that time 
afford. Around his fort in 1847, was a person named James W. 



Sutter’s Mill, Where Gold was Discovered. 





















































64 


MARSHALL'S DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 


Marshall, who had a natural taste for mechanical contrivances, 
and was able to construct, with the few crude tools and appli¬ 
ances at hand, almost any kind of a machine ordinarily desired. 
It was to this man that Sutter intrusted the erection of the 
long-contemplated and much needed saw-mill. The contract 
was written by Mr. John Bidwell, then Captain Sutter’s Secre¬ 
tary, and signed by the parties. Marshall started out in No¬ 
vember, 1847, equipped with tools and provisions for his men. 
He reported the distance of the selected site to be thirty miles, 
but he occupied two weeks in reaching his destination in Co- 
loma. In the course of the winter a dam and race were made, 
but when the water was let on, the tail-race was too narrow. 
To widen and deepen it, Marshall let in a strong current of 
water directly to the race, which bore a large body of mud 
and gravel to the foot. 

marshall’s discovery of gold. 

1848.—On the 19th of January, 1848, Marshall observed 
some glittering particles in the race, which he was curious 
enough to examine. He called five carpenters on the mill to 
see them; but though they talked over the possibility of its 
being gold, the vision did not inflame them. 

One lump weighed about seventeen grains. It was malle¬ 
able, heavier than silver, and in all respects resembled gold. 
About 4 o’clock in the evening Marshall exhibited his find to the 
circle composing the mill company laborers. Their names were 
James W. Marshall, P. L. Wimmer, Mrs. A. Wimmer, J. Barger, 
Ira Willis, Sydney Willis, A. Stephens, James Brown, Ezekiah F. 
Persons,H. Bigler, Israel Smith,William Johnson, GeorgeEvans, 
C. Bennett, and William Scott. The conference resulted in a 
rejection of the idea that it was gold. Mrs. Wimmer tested it 
by boiling it in strong lye. Marshall afterwards tested it with 
nitric acid. It was gold, sure enough, and the discoverer found 
its like in all the surrounding gulches wherever he dug for it. 
The secret could not be kept long. It was known at Yerba 
Buena three months after the discovery. 

TWO IMPORTANT EVENTS. 

1848.—The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, by which Califor¬ 
nia was ceded to the United States, was concluded in Mexico, 
on February 2, 1848. It proves to have been on that very 
day, the 2d of February, 1848, that here in California, 
Marshall rides in from Sutter’s Mill, situated at what is now 
Coloma, forty miles to Sutter’s Fort, his horse in a foam and 
himself all bespattered with mud; and finding Captain Sutter 
alone, takes from his pocket a pouch, from which he pours upon 
the table about an ounce of yellow grains of metal, which he 
thought would prove to be gold. It did prove to be gold, and 
there was a great deal more where that came from. General 
Bidwell writes: “ I myself first took the news to San Fran¬ 
cisco. I went by way of Sonoma. I told General Vallejo. 
He told me to say to Sutter ‘ that he hoped the gold would 
How into his purse as the water through his mill-race.’” 


WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. 

We cannot observe the coincidence of the date of this great 
discovery, with that of the negotiation of the treaty of peace 
with Mexico, by which California was acquired by the United 
States, without thinking. What if the gold discovery had come 
first ? What if the events of the war had postponed the con¬ 
clusion of peace for a few months ? What if Mexico had heard 
the news before agreeing upon terms ? What if Mexico’s large 
creditor, England, had also learned that there was abundance of 
gold here in California? Who can tell, when in that case, there 
would have been peace, and upon what terms, and with what 
disposition of territory. 

THE DISOVERY OF GOLD DOUBTED. 

In the bar room at Weber’s Hotel in San Jose, one day in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1848, a man came in, and to pay for something he had 
purchased, offered some gold-dust, saying that gold had been 
discovered at Sutter’s Mill on American River, and all were go¬ 
ing to work. The people were very incredulous and would not 
believe the story. An old Georgia miner said that what the 
man had was really gold, and requested him to investigate the 
matter. When he arrived at Sutter’s Mill, he asked Sutter 
regarding it, and the Captain assured him that it was a certain¬ 
ty, and that a man could make five dollars a day. He carried 
the news to San Jose and the place was almost deserted, every 
one hastening to the mines. 

The people were suspicious regarding the quality and amount 
of the gold. As the weeks passed, confidence was gained and 
the belief that there might possibly be precious minerals in 
other localities was strengthened. 

Prospectors gradually pushed out beyond the narrow" limits 
of the first mining district, and thus commenced the opening 
up of the vast mining fields of California and the Pacific Coast. 

SPECIMEN PIECES OF GOLD. 

A Fx-enchman fishing in a prospect hole for frogs for his 
breakfast, at Mokelumne Hill, in November. 1848, discovered a 
speck of gold on the side of the excavation, which he dug out 
with his pocket-knife and sold for $2,150. 

Three sailors who had deserted took out $10,000 in five 
days on Weber Creek. Such strokes of good fortune turned 
all classes into miners, including the lawyers, doctors and 
px-eachers. 

The exports of gold-dust in exchange for produce and mer¬ 
chandise amounted to $500,000 by the 25th of September. The 
ruling price of gold-dust was $15 per ounce, though its intrinsic 
value was from $19 to $20. 

The first piece of gold found in California v’eighed 50 cents, 
and the second $5. Since that time one nugget worth $43,000, 
tw r o $21,000, one $10,000, tv T o $8,000, one $6,500, four $5,000, 
twelve worth from $2,000 to $4,000, and eighteen from $1,000 
to $2,000 have been found and recoi’ded in the History of the 













PART OF RANCH & RESIDENCE OF W & J. ROBINSON. HANFORD, TULARE CO. CAL 


5 MILES W. S.W. FROM HANFORD, TULARE CO. CAL. 














































































































WONDERFUL PRODUCTIONS OF GOLD. 


65 


State. In addition to the above, numberless nuggets worth 
from §100 to §500 are mentioned in the annals of California 
gold mining during the last thirty years. The first two refer¬ 
red to were exchanged for bread, and all trace of them was 
lost. The finder of one of the §8,000 pieces became insane the 
following day, and was confined in the hospital at Stockton. 

MERCHANTS REFUSE GOLD-DUST. 

A meeting of citizens in San Francisco, presided over by T. 
M. Leavenworth and addressed by Samuel Brannan, passed reso¬ 
lutions in September, 1848, not to patronize merchants who 
refused to take gold-dust at §16 per ounce. A memorial was 
also sent from San Francisco to Congress in that month for a 
branch mint here. It stated, among other things, the opinion 
that by July 1, 1849, §5,000,000 worth of dust at §16 per ounce 
would be taken out of the mines. The figures were millions 
too low. 

ADVANCE IN REAL ESTATE. 

Real estate in San Francisco took a sudden rise. A lot on 
Montgomery Street near Washington, sold in July for §10,000, 
and was resold in November with a shanty on it for §27,000. 
Lots in Sacramento, or New Helvetia, also came up to fabulous 
prices that winter. By the month of October the rush from 
Oregon caused the Oregon City papers to stop publication. In 
December, the Kanakas and Sonorians came in swarms. A 
Honolulu letter, November 11th, said:— 

“ Such another excitement as the news from California cre¬ 
ated here the world never saw. I think not less than 500 
persons will leave before January 1st, and if the news con¬ 
tinues good, the whole foreign population except missionaries 
will go.” 

The news did continue good, and they came, some mission¬ 
aries included. Soon there came up from the mines complaint 
of outrage and lawlessness, mostly against Kanakas and other 
foreigners. How well they were founded, to Avhat they led, 
and how they were suddenly and summarily silenced, is a story 
that covers a very interesting part of the history of California 
and the progress of civilization in America. 

On the 29th of May, the Californian issued a slip stating 
that its further publication, for the present, would cease, be¬ 
cause nearly all its patrons had gone to the mines. 

SAN FRANCISCO DESERTED. 

A month later there were but five persons—women and chil¬ 
dren_left in Yerba Buena. The first rush was for Sutter’s 

Mill, since christened Coloma, or Culluma, after a tribe of In¬ 
dians who lived in that region. From there they scattered in 
all directions. A large stream of them went over to Weber 
Creek, that empties into the American some ten or twelve 
miles below Coloma. Others went up or down the river. 
Some, more adventurous, crossed the ridge over to the north 
and middle forks of the American. 


By the close of June the discoveries had extended to all the 
forks of the American, Weber Creek, Ilangtown Creek, the 
Cosumnes (known then as the Makosume), the Mokelumne, 
Tuolumne, the Yuba (from uvas, or yuvas —grape), called in 
1848 the “ Yuba,” or “Ajuba,” and Feather River. 

On July 15th, the editor of the Californian returned and 
issued the first number of his paper after its suspension. It 
contained a description of the mines from personal observation. 

I He said:— 

“The country from the Ajuba (Yuba) to the San Joaquin, 
a distance of about 120 miles, and from the base toward 
the summit of the mountains, as far as Snow Hill [mean¬ 
ing Nevada], about seventy miles, has been explored and 
gold found on every part. There are now probably 3,000 
people, including Indians, engaged in collecting gold. The 
amount collected by each man ranges from §10 to §350 
per day. The publisher of this paper collected, with the aid of 
a shovel, pick, and a tin pan, from §44 to §128 per day—aver¬ 
aging §100. The gross amount collected may exceed §600,000; 
of which amount our merchants have received about §250,000, 
all for goods, and in eight weeks. The largest piece known to 
be found weighs eight pounds. 

NUMBER OF MINERS AND THEIR SUCCESS. 

1848.—On the 14th of August, the number of white 
miners was estimated at 4,000. Many of them were of 
Stevenson’s Regiment and the disbanded Mormon Battalion. 
The Californian remarked on that day that “ when a man 
with his pan or basket does not average §30 to §40 a day, he 
moves to another place. 

Four thousand ounces a day was the estimated production 
of the mines five months after the secret leaked out. In April 
the price of flour here was §4 per hundred. In August it 
had risen to §16. All other subsistence supplies rose in the 
same proportion. Here is a part of a letter from Sonoma, to 
the Californian, August 14th:— 

“ I have heard from one of our citizens who has been at the 
placers only a few weeks, and collected §1,500, still averaging 
§100 a day. Another, who shut up his hotel here some five 
or six weeks since, has returned with §2,200, collected with a 
spade, pick, and Indian basket. A man and his wife and boy 
collected §500 in one day.” 

Sam Brannan laid exclusive claim to Mormon Island, in the 
American, about twenty-eight miles above its mouth, and levied 
a royalty of thirty per cent, on all the gold taken there by the 
Mormons, who paid it for awhile, but refused after they came 
to a better understanding of the rules of the mines. By Sep¬ 
tember the news had spread to Oregon and the southern coast 
and on the 2d of that month the Californian notes that 
125 persons had arrived in town “by ship” since August, 
26th. In the “ Dry Diggings ” near Auburn, during the month 
of August, one man got Si 6,000 out of five cart-loads of dirt 




















06 


GRAND RUSH FOR THE GOLD MINES. 


In the same diggings a good many were collecting from 
$800 to $1,500 a day. 

In the fall of 1848, John Murphy, now of San Jose, discov¬ 
ered Murphy’s Camp Diggings in Calaveras, and some soldiers 
of Stevenson’s Regiment discovered Rich Gulch at Mokelumne 
Hill. That winter one miner at Murphy’s realized $80,000. 
It was common report that John Murphy, who mined a num¬ 
ber of Indians on wages, had collected over $1,500,000 in gold- 
dust before the close of the wet season of 1848. 

The following notice of the discovery is from the Califor¬ 
nian, of San Francisco, on the 10th of April, 1848:— 

New Gold Mine. —It is stated that a new gold mine has 
been discovered on the American Fork of the Sacramento, sup¬ 
posed to be [it was not] on the land of William A. Leidesdorff, 
Esq., of this place. A specimen of the gold has been exhibited 
and is represented to be very pure. 

May opened with accounts of new discoveries. The Cali¬ 
fornian of May 3d said: “ Seven men, with picks and spades, 
gathered $1,600 worth in fifteen days.” That was a little more 
than $15 per man per day. On the 17th of May the same 
paper said:— 

“ Many persons have already left the coast for the diggings. 
Considerable excitement exists here. Merchants and mechanics 
are closing doors. Lawyers and alcades are leaving their 
desks, farmers are neglecting their crops, and whole families are 
forsaking their homes, for the diggings.” 

By May 24th gold-dust had become an article of merchan¬ 
dise, the price being from $14 to $16 per ounce. The Califor¬ 
nian of that date had these advertisements:— 

A OLD ! GOLD! ! GOLD!!!—Cash will be paid for California gold by R. R. 
JC Buckalew, Watchmaker and Jeweler, San Francisco. 

OLD! GOLD!! GOLD!!!—Messrs. Dickson & Hay are purchasers of 
Sacramento gold. A liberal price given. Bee Hive. 

THE SECRET WOULD NOT KEEP. 

Before Sutter had quite satisfied himself that the metal found 
was gold, he went up to the mill, and, with Marshall, made a 
treaty with the Indians, buying of them their titles to the 
region round about for a certain amount of goods. There was 
an effort made to keep the secret inside the little circle that 
knew it, but it soon leaked out. They had many misgivings 
and much discussion whether they were not making themselves 
ridiculous ; yet by common consent all began to hunt, though 
with no great spirit, for the “ yellow stuff” that might prove 
such a prize. 

Slowiy and surely, however, did these discoveries creep into 
the minds of those at home and abroad; the whole civilized 
world was set agog with the startling news from the shores 
of the Pacific. Young and old were seized with the California 
fever; high and low, rich and poor, were infected by it; the 
prospect was altogether too gorgeous to contemplate. Why, 
they could actually pick up a fortune for the seeking’ 

GRAND RUSH FOR THE GOLD. 

While the real argonauts of 1848 were wandering around 
among the hills and gulches that flank the western slope of the 


Sierra Nevada, armed with pan, spoon, and butcher-knife, test¬ 
ing the scope and capabilities of the gold mines, the news of 
discovery was speeding on its way to the Eastern States, by 
two routes simultaneously. 

It reached the frontier of Missouri and Iowa by the Mormon 
scouts and moving trappers about the same time that vessels 
sailing round Cape Horn took it to New York and Boston, 
which was in the late autumn of 184S. The first reports re¬ 
peatedly confirmed and enlarged upon, threw the whole coun¬ 
try into the wildest excitement. In the city' of New York and 
the extreme Western States the fever was hottest. 

EMIGRANT COMPANIES FORMED. 

1849.-—The adventurers generally formed companies, expect¬ 
ing to go overland or by sea to the mines, and to dissolve part¬ 
nership only after a first trial of luck together in the “ dig¬ 
gings.” In the Eastern and Middle States they would often 
buy up an old whaling ship, just ready to be condemned to 
the wreckers, put in a cargo of such stuff as they must need 
themselves, and provisions, tools, or goods, that must be sure 
to bring returns enough to make the venture profitable. Of 
course, the whole fleet rushing together through the Golden 
Gate, made most of these ventures profitless, even when the 
guess was happy as to the kind of supplies needed by the Cali¬ 
fornians. It can hardly be believed what sieves of ships 
started, and how many of them actually made the voyage. 

Hundi-eds of farms were mortgaged to buy tickets for the 
land of gold. Some insured their lives and pledged their poli¬ 
cies for an outfit. The wild boy was packed off hopefully. 
The black sheep of the flock was dismissed with a blessing, 
and the folorn hope that, with a change of skies, there might 
be a change of manners. The stay of the happy household 
said “ Good-bye, but only for a year or two,” to his charge. 
Unhappy husbands availed themselves cheerfully of this cheap 
and reputable method of divorce, trusting time to mend mat¬ 
ters in their absence. Here was a chance to begin life anew. 

THE MINERS’ LAWS. 

The miners found no governmental machinery competent to 
protect their lives or their property, and hence each mining 
camp made a law unto itself. The punishment, of course, was 
sure and swift, and, as a consequence, there was but little of it. 
Gold was left in deep canons with no one to watch it, and 
every opportunity was afforded for theft; but if there were 
any disposed to take what did not belong to them, the knowl¬ 
edge that their lives would pay the forfeit if detected, deterred 
them from it. The excitement of the times led to gambling. 
It seemed that almost everybody, even those who had been 
leading church members at the East, were seized with the ma¬ 
nia for gambling. Tables for this purpose were set out in every 
hotel, and one corner of many of the stores, both in mines and 
cities, were set apart for the monte table. 










REVIEW OF THE GOLDEN ERA OF 1849. 


67 


SAN FRANCISCO ON SUNDAY. 

Sunday in the time of the mining excitement differed little 
from other days. Banks were open; expresses were running; 
stores were open for the most part; auctioneers were crying 
their wares, and the town was full of business and noise. 
Gambling saloons were thronged day and night. The plaza 
was surrounded with them on two sides, and partly on a third. 
Music of every sort was heard from them, sometimes of the 
finest kind, and now and then the noise of violence and the 
sound of pistol shots. The whole city was a strange and 
almost bewildering scene to a stranger. 

o o 

THE GOLDEN ERA OF 1849. 

“ The ’ fall of ’49 and the spring of ’50 ’ is the era of Califor¬ 
nia history, which the pioneer always speaks of with warmth. 
It was the free-and-easy age when everybody was flush, and 
fortune, if not in the palm, was only just beyond the grasp of 
all. Men lived chiefly in tents, or in cabins scarceh r more dur¬ 
able, and behaved themselves like a generation of bachelors. 
The family was beyond the mountains; the restraints of soci¬ 
ety had not yet arrived. Men threw off the masks they had 
lived behind and appeared out in their true character. A few 
did not discharge the consciences and convictions they brought 
with them. More rollicked in a perfect freedom from those 
bonds which good men cheerfully assume in settled society for 
the good of the greater number. Some afterwards resumed 
their temperate, steady habits, but hosts were wrecked before 
the period of their license expired. 

“ Very rarely did men on their arrival in the country, begin 
to w'ork at their old trade or profession. To the mines first. 
If fortune favored, they soon quit for more congenial employ¬ 
ment. If she frowned, they might depai-t disgusted, if they 
were able; but oftener, from sheer inability to leave the busi¬ 
ness, they kept on, drifting from bar to bar, living fast, reck¬ 
less, impi’ovident, half-civilized lives; comparatively rich to- 
dav, poor to-morrow; tormented with rheumatisms and agues, 
remembering dimly the joys of the old homestead; nearly 
weaned from the friends at home, who, because they were 
never heard from, soon became like dead men in their memory; 
seeing little of women and nothing of churches; self-reliant, yet 
satisfied that there was nowhere any ‘show’ for them; full of 
enterprise in the direct line of their business, and utterly lost 
in the threshold of any other; genial companions, morbidly 
craving after newspapers; good fellows, but short-lived.” 

A REVIEW OF EVENTS. 

At this day it seems strange that the news of this great dis¬ 
covery did not fly abroad more swiftly than it did. It would 
not seem so very strange, however, if it could be remembered 
how very improbable the truth of the gold stories then were. 

And it appeared to be most improbable, that if gold was 
really found, it would be in quantities sufficient to pay for go¬ 


ing after it. People were a little slow to commit themselves, 
at first, respecting it. Even as late as May 24, 1848, a corre¬ 
spondent writing in the Californian, a paper then published 
in San Francisco, expressed the opinion of some people thus:— 
“ What evil effects may not result from this mania, and the 
consequent abandonment of all useful pursuits, in a wild-goose 
chase after gold ? ” 

A good many people, far and near, looked upon the matter 
in this light for some time. The slowness with which the 
news traveled in the beginning, is seen in this:— 

Monterey, then the seat of government, is not more than 
four or five days’ travel from the place where gold was first 
discovered. The discovery took place not later than the 1st 
of February, 1848. And yet Alcalde Walter Colton says, in 
his journal under date, May 29th, “Our town was startled out 



Alcalde Colton Meets the Miser. (See next page.) 


of its quiet dreams to-day by the announcement that gold had 
been discovered on the American Fork.” 

If it took four months for the news of the discovery of gold 
to travel as far as Monterey, the capital town of the country, it 
is not surprising that it hardly got over to the Atlantic States 
within the year 184S. There was then an express that adver¬ 
tised to take letters through to Independence, Missouri, in sixty 
days, at fifty cents apiece. 

If the gold news had been thoi'oughly credited here, it might 
have been published all through the East by the first of May; 
but it was not. In the early fall of 1848, however, the rumor 
began to get abroad there, through private sources. At first it 
was laughed at, and those who credited it at all had no idea 
that gold existed here in sufficient quantities to be worth dig¬ 
ging. 

alcalde colton’s visit to the mines. 

Walter Colton, the alcalde of Monterey, and writer of “ Three 
Years in California,” hearing of the discovery of gold, visited 
the mines. From his descriptions we gain an insight into those 
days. We copy his journal for a few days:— 






















68 


SCENES AND INCIDENTS IN TIIE GOLD MINES. 


“1848 October 12.—We are camped in the center of the 
gold mines, in the heart of the richest deposits, where many 
hundreds are at work. All the gold-diggers were excited by 
the report that a solid pocket of gold had been found on the 
Stanislaus. In half an hour a motley crowd, with crow-bars, 
pick-axes, spades, and wash-bowls went over the hills in the 
direction of the new deposit. I remained and picked out from 
a small crevice of slate rock, a piece weighing a half-ounce. 

“ October 13.—-I started for the Stanislaus diggings. It was 
an uproarous life; the monte-table, with its piles of gold, glim¬ 
mering in the shade. The keeper of the bank was a woman. 
The bank consisted of a pile of gold, weighing, perhaps, a hun¬ 
dred pounds. They seemed to play for the excitement, caring 
little whether they won or lost. 

“ It was in this ravine that, a few weeks since, the largest 
lump of gold found in California was discovered. Its weight 
was twenty-three (23) pounds, and in nearly a pure state. Its 
discovery shook the whole mines. (Query—Does any one 
know the name of the finder ?) 

“ October 14.—A new deposit was discovered this morning 
near the falls of the Stanislaus. An Irishman had gone there 
to bathe, and in throwing off his clothes, had dropped his knife, 
which slipped into a crevice, and in getting it, picked up gold- 
dust. He was soon tracked out, and a storm of picks were 
splitting the rocks. 

PRICES OF PROVISIONS. 

“ October 15.—Quite a sensation was produced by the arrival 
from Stockton of a load of provisions and whisky. The price 
of the former was: Hour, $2 per pound; sugar and coffee, $4. 
The whisky was $20 per quart. Coffee-pots and sauce-pans 
were in demand, while one fellow offered $10 to let him suck 
with a straw from the bung. All were soon in every variety 
of inebriety. 

“October 16.—I encountered to-day, in a ravine some three 
miles distant, among the gold washers, a woman from San Jose. 
She was at work with a large wooden bowl, by the side of a 
stream. I asked her how long she had been there, and how 
much gold she averaged per day. She replied: “ Three weeks, 
and an ounce.” 

“ October 18.—A German, this morning, picking a hole in 
the ground near our camping tree, struck a piece of gold weigh¬ 
ing about three ounces. As soon as it was known, some forty 
picks were flying r into the earth, but not another piece was 
found. In a ravine, a little girl this morning picked up what 
she thought a curious stone, and brought it to her mother, who 
found it a lump of gold, weighing six or seven pounds. 

“ October 20.—I encountered this morning, in the person of 
a Welshman, a marked specimen of the gold-digger. He stood 
some six feet eight in his shoes, with giant limbs and frame. 
A slender strap fastened his coarse trowsers above his hips, and 
confined the flowing bunt of his flannel shirt. A broad-rimmed 


hat sheltered his browny features, while his unshorn beard and 
hair flowed in tangled confusion to his waist. To his back was 
lashed a blanket and bag of provisions; on one shoulder rested 
a huge crow-bar, to which was hung a gold washer and skillet; 
on the other rested a rifle, a spade, and a pick, from which 
dangled a cup and a pair of heavy shoes. He recognized me 
as the magistrate who had once arrested him for breach of the 
peace. “ Well, Alcalde,” said he, “ I am glad to see you in these 
diggings. I was on a buster; you did your duty, and I respect 
you for it; and now let me settle the difference between us with 
a bit of gold; it shall be the first I strike under this bog.” 
Before I could reply, his traps were on the ground, and his 
pick was tearing up bog after bog. These removed, he struck 
a layer of clay. “Here she comes,” he ejaculated, and turned 
out a piece of gold that would weigh an ounce or more. “ There 
Alcalde, accept that, and when you reach home have a brace¬ 
let made for your good lady.” He continued digging around 
the same place for the hour I remained, but never found 
another piece—not a particle. No uncommon thing to find 
only one piece, and never another near it.” 

THE DESERTED CLAIMS. 

Scattered all up and down through the mining districts of 
California are hundreds of such spots as that represented by 
Colton. Time was when the same place was full of life and 
activity; when the flume ran; when the cabins were tenanted; 
when the loud voices of men rose, and the sounds of labor kept 
the birds away that now fly so fearlessly around the tumbling 
ruins. But the claim gave out, and the miners, gathering their 
tools together, vamosed for some other spot, and desolation set 
in. The unused flume dropped to pieces, ownerless huts became 
forlorn, and the debris only added to the dismalness of the 
place. Or who knows, some dark deed may have led to the 
abandonment of the claim, for surely the spot looks uncanny 
and gloomy enough for twenty murders. 

FIRST DISCOVERIES OF GOLD. 

The first actually known of the metals was the reported discov¬ 
ery, as early as 1802, of silver at, Alizal, in Monterey County. 
In 1825, Jedediah S. Smith, at the head of a party of Ameri¬ 
can trappers, while crossing the Sierra Nevada in the vicinity 
of Mono Lake, “found placer gold in quantities and brought 
much of it with him to the encampment on Green River.” 

This is the first known discovery of gold in California, and 
much of the honor that is showered upon James W. Marshal, 
should properly fall upon this intrepid and enterprising pioneer 
trapper, Jedediah S. Smith. 

In 1828, at San Isador, in San Diego County, and in 1833, 
in the western limits of Santa Clara County, gold was also found. 

Gold placers were discovered in 1841, by a Canadian, near 
the Mission of San Fernando, forty-five miles northeast of Los 
Angeles, and were worked until 1848, in a small way, yielding 
some $6,000 annually. 
















































































































































































































































ORGANIZATION OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 


09 


Organization of the Government. 

1846.—Thomas O. Larkin, the American Consul at Monte¬ 
rey, who under instructions had gained a great amount of in¬ 
fluence among the leading native Californians, suggested and 
caused the issuance of a circular by Governor Pico, in May, 

1846, calling a convention of thirty of the more prominent men 
in the country. This assemblage was to discuss the condition 
of affairs and to petition the Mexican authorities for an im¬ 
proved government; if the request met with a refusal, the ter¬ 
ritory was to be sold to some other power. The tendency of 
this discussion would be towards the transfer of the territory 
to the United States. The convention did not meet, however, 
as events transpired which precluded the possibility of a peace¬ 
ful transfer. Lieut. John C. Fremont arrived in that year, and 
soon became embroiled in a wordy conflict with the authori¬ 
ties, and Ide and his party declared a revolution at Sonoma as 
heretofore mentioned. 

The more intelligent settlers of California saw at an early day 
the urgent necessity of a regular constitution and laws. The pro¬ 
visional government existing since the conquest of 1847 was 
but a temporary affair and by no means able to satisfy the 
wants of a great, growing, and dangerous population which had 
now so strangely and suddenly gathered together. The inhab¬ 
itants could not wait the slow movements of Congress. At¬ 
tempts were made by the citizens of San Francisco, Sonoma, 
and San Jose to form legislatures for themselves, which they 
invested with supreme authority, [t was quickly found that 
these independent legislative bodies came into collision with 
each other, and nothing less than a general constitution would 
be satisfactory to the people. 

Great meetings for these purposes were held at San Jose, San 
Francisco, Monterey, Sonoma, and other places, in the months 
of December and January, 1848-49. It was resolved that dele¬ 
gates be chosen by popular election from all parts of the State 
to meet at San Jose. These delegates were to form a Consti¬ 
tution. These movements were general on the part of all citi¬ 
zens, and no partizan feeling was shown in the matter. 

CONVENTION CALLED AT MONTEREY. 

1849.—While the people were thus working out for them¬ 
selves this great problem, the then great Militai-y Governor, 
General Riley, saw fit to issue on the 3d of June, 1849, a proc¬ 
lamation calling a Convention to meet at Monterey on the 1st 
of September, to frame a Constitution. 

These delegates were forty-eight in number, and while they 
represented all parts of the State, they were also representa¬ 
tives of every State in the Union. They were men not much 
used to those deliberations expected of such a body, but they 
determined to do their duty in the best possible manner. 

The delegates, at their first regular meeting on the 4th of 


September, chose, by a large majority of votes, Dr. Robert 
Semple as President of the Convention; Capt. William G. 
Marcy was then appointed Secretary, and the other necessary 
offices were properly filled up. After rather more than a 
month’s constant labor and discussion, the existing Constitu¬ 
tion of California was drafted, and finally adopted by the Con¬ 
vention. 

THE FIRST STATE CONSTITUTION. 

This document was formed after the model of the most 
approved State Constitutions of the Union, and was framed in 
strict accordance with the most liberal and independent opin¬ 
ions of the age. 

On the 13th of October, 1849, the delegates signed the 
instrument, and a salute of thirty-one guns was fired. 

The house in which the delegates met was a large, hand¬ 
some two-story stone erection, called “ Colton Hall,” and was, 
perhaps, the best fitted for their purposes of any building in 
the country. It was erected by Walter Colton, who was the 
Alcalde of Monterey, having been appointed by Commodore 
Stockton July 28, 1846. The building is still standing in a 
good state of preservation. 

The Constitution was submitted to the people and was 
adopted on the 13th of November, a Governor being elected 


at the same time:— 

For the Constitution.12,064 

Against the Constitution. 811 

For Governor, Peter H. Burnett. 6,716 

“ W. Scott Sh rwood. 3,188 

J. W. Geary. 1,475 

John A. Sutter. 2,201 

William M. Stewart.... 719 


Total vote on Constitution.12,875 

Total vote for Governor.14,299 


This vote was light, and was chiefly cast at San Francisco, 
Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Jose, Stockton, 
Sacramento, and the mines most convenient to the latter places. 
The miners were moving about from place to place, were scat¬ 
tered along the rivers and in the mountains, and on account of 
the limited facilities for communication and the short time 
between the adjournment of the Convention and the day of 
the election, there was no opportunity offered to thousands to 
exercise the right of franchise on this occasion, but they gladly 
acquiesced in the decision of their countrymen. 

FIRST CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE. 

On Saturday, the 15th of December, 1849, the first Leg¬ 
islature of the State of California met at San Jose. The 
Assembly occupied the second story of the State House, but 
the lower portion, which was designed for the Senate Cham¬ 
ber, not being ready, the latter body held their sittings, for a 
short period, in the house of Isaac Branham, on the southwest 
corner of Market Plaza. The State House proper was a building 



































TO 


MEETING OF THE FIRST LEGISLATURE. 


sixty-five feet long, forty feet wide, two stories high and adorned 
with a piazza in front. The upper story was simply a large 
room with a stairway leading thereto. This was the Assembly 
Chamber. The lower story was divided into four rooms; the 
largest, 20x40 feet, was designed for the Senate Chamber, and 
the others were used by the Secretary of State and the various 
committees. The building was destroyed by fire on the 29th 
of April, 1853, at four o’clock in the morning. 

SOLONS DISSATISFIED WITH SAN JOSE. 

On the first day of the first legislative session only six Sen¬ 
ators were present, and perhaps twice as many Assemblymen. 
On Sunday, Governor Riley and Secretary Halleck arrived, 
and by Monday nearly all the members were present. Num¬ 
ber of members: Senate, 16; Assembly, 36. Total, 52. No 
sooner was the Legislature fairly organized than the members 
began to growl about their accommodations. They didn’t like 
the legislative building, and swore terribly, between drinks, at 
the accommodations of the town generally. Many of the 
solons expressed a desire to move the Capitol from San Jose 
immediately. On the 19th instant George B. Tingley, a 
member of the House from Sacramento, offered a bill to the 
effect that the Legislature remove the Capitol at once to Mon¬ 
terey. The bill passed its first reading and was laid over for 
further action. 

FIRST STATE SENATORS ELECTED. 

On the 20th Governor Riley resigned his gubernatorial 
office, and by his order, dated Headquarters Tenth Military 
Department, San Jose, California, December 20, 1849, (Order 
No. 41), Capt. H. W. Halleck, afterwards a General in the 
war of the Rebellion, was relieved as Secretary of State. On 
the same day Gov. Peter Burnett was sworn by K. H. 
Dimick, Judge of the Court of First Instance. 

The same day, also, Col. J. C. Fremont received a majority 
of six votes, and Dr. M. Gwin a majority of two for Senators 
of the United States. The respective candidates for the United 
States Senate kept ranches, as they were termed; that is, they 
kept open house. All who entered drank free and freely. 
Under the circumstances they could afford to. Every man who 
drank of course wished that the owner of the establishment 
might be the successful candidate for the Senate. That wish 
would be expressed half a dozen times a day in as many differ¬ 
ent houses. A great deal of solicitude would be indicated just 
about the time for drinks. 

FIRST INAUGURAL BALL. 

On the evening of the 27th the citizens of San Jose, having 
become somewhat alarmed at the continued grumbling of 
the strangers within their gates, determined that it was nec¬ 
essary to do something to content the assembled wisdom of 
the State, and accordingly arranged for a grand ball, which 
was given in the Assembly Chamber. As ladies were very 


scarce, the country about was literally ‘ raked,” to use the 
expression of the historian of that period, “for seiioritas,” and 
their red and yellow flannel petticoats so variegated the 
whirl of the dance that the American-dressed ladies, and in 
fact the solons themselves, were actually bewildered, and finally 
captivated, for, as the record further states, “ now and then 
was given a sly wink of the eye between some American ladies, 
and between them and a friend of the other sex, as the senori¬ 
tas, bewitching and graceful in motion, glided by with a cap¬ 
tured member.” But, notwithstanding this rivalry, the first 
California inaugural ball was a success. “ The dance went on 
as merry as a marriage bell. All were in high glee. Spirits 
were plenty. Some hovered where ymu saw them not, but the 
sound thereof was not lost.” 

THE NOTED LEGISLATURE. 

Speaking of the appellation applied to the first body of Cal¬ 
ifornia law-makers, i.e., “ The Legislatureof a Thousand Drinks,” 
the same quaint writer says, “with no disrespect for the mem¬ 
bers of that body, I never heard one of them deny that the 
baptismal name was improperly bestowed upon them. They 
were good drinkers—they drank like men. If they could not 
stand the ceremony on any particular occasion they would lie 
down to it with becoming*grace. I knew one to be laid out 
with a white sheet spread over him, and six lighted candles 
around him. He appeared to be in the spirit land. He was 
really on land with the spirits in him—too full for utterance. 
But to do justice to this body of men. there were but a very 
few among them who were given to drinking habitually, and 
as for official labor, they performed probably more than any 
subsequent legislative body of the State in the same given time. 

In the State House there was many a trick played, many a 
joke passed, the recollection of which produces a smile upon 
the faces of those who witnessed them. It was not infre¬ 
quently that as a person was walking up/stairs with a lighted 
candle, a shot from a revolver would extinguish it. Then what 
shouts of laughter rang through the building at the scared indi¬ 
vidual. Those who fired were marksmen; their aim was true 
and they knew it.” 

THE FANDANGO PATRONIZED. 

Speaking of the way in which these gay and festive legisla¬ 
tors passed their evenings, a writer says: “ The almost nightly 
amusement was the fandango. There were some respectable 
ones, and some which at this day would not be called respect¬ 
able. The term might be considered relative in its significa¬ 
tion. It depended a good deal on the spirit of the times and 
the notion of the attendant of such places. Those fandangos, 
where the members kept their hats on and treated their part¬ 
ners after each dance, were not considered of a high-toned 
character (modern members will please bear this in mind). 

There were frequent parties where a little more gentility 
was exhibited. In truth, considering the times and the coun- 










ACTS AND AMUSEMENTS OF EARLY LEGISLATORS. 


71 


try, they were very agreeable. The difference in language, in 
some degree prohibited a free exchange of ideas between the 
two sexes when the Americans were in excess. Buttlien, what 
one could not say in so many words he imagined, guessed, or 
made signs, and, on the whole, the parties were novel and 
interesting. 

AMUSEMENTS FOR TFIE MEMBERS. 

The grand out-door amusements were the bull and bear 
fights. They took place sometimes on St. James, and some¬ 
times on Mai'ket Square. Sunday was the usual day for bull¬ 
fights. 

On the 3d day of February the legislators were enter¬ 
tained by a great exhibition of a fellow-man putting himself on 
a level with a beast. In the month of March there was a good 
deal of amusement, mixed Avith a considerable amount of 
excitement. 

It was reported all over the Capital that gold had been dis¬ 
covered in the bed of Coyote Creek. There was a general 
rush. Picks, shovels, crow-bars and pans had a large sale. 
Members of the Legislature, officials, clerks, and lobbyists con¬ 
cluded suddenly to change their vocation. Even the sixteen 
dollars per day which they had voted themselves was no induce¬ 
ment to keep them away from Co}’ote Creek. But they soon 
came back again, and half of those who went away would 
never own it after the excitement was over. Beyond the above 
interesting and presumably prominent facts history gives us 
very little concerning the meeting of our first Legislature 
except that the session lasted 129 days, an adjournment having 
been effected on the 22d of April, 1850. 

SECOND SESSION OF LEGISLATURE. 

1851.—The Second Legislature assembled on the Gth of 
January, 1851. On the 8th the Governor tendered his 
resignation to the Legislature, and John McDougal was sworn 
in as his successor. The question of the removal of the capital 
from San Jose was one of the important ones of the session, 
so much so that the citizens of San Jose were remarkably 
active in catering to the wishes of the members of the legis¬ 
lative body. They offered extravagant bids of land for the 
capital grounds, promised all manner of buildings and accom¬ 
modations, and even took the State scrip in payment for Leg¬ 
islators’ board. But it was of no use. 

Vallejo was determined to have the capital, and began brib¬ 
ing members right and left with all the city lots they wanted. 
The act of removal was passed February 14th, and after that 
date the Legislators had to suffer. The people refused to take 
State scrip for San Jose board, charged double prices for every¬ 
thing; and when, on the 16th of May, the Solons finally 
pulled up stakes and left, there was not thrown after them the 
traditional old shoe, but an assorted lot of mongrel oaths and 
Mexican maledictions greeted them on their long-wished-for 
departure. 


REMOVALS OF THE CAPITAL. 

Third Session—Convened at Vallejo, the new Capital, Janu¬ 
ary 5, 1852. Number of members: Senate, 27; Assembly, 62 
Total, 89. 

Fourth Session—Convened at Vallejo, January 2, 1853 
removed to Benicia, February 4, 1853. 

Fifth Session—Convened at Benicia, January 2, 1854, 
removed to Sacramento, February 25,1854, where it has since 
remained. 

PRESENT CAPITOL BUILDING. 

In the beginning of 1860, the citizens of Sacramento deeded 
to the State, lots of land in the city on which a new State Cap¬ 
itol could be built. Work commenced the 15th day of May, 
1861, and the corner-stone was laid with Masonic ceremonies, 
conducted by N. Green Curtis, then Grand Master of the Order. 
In a few years other blocks were added, so that now the grounds 
extend from Tenth to Fifteenth and from L to N Streets. For 



State House at San Jose, 1S49. 


this addition the citizens subscribed $30,000, the State appro¬ 
priation not being sufficient to fully pay for the land. The 
original architect was Reuben Clark, to whom the greatest 
meed of praise should be given for the beautiful building that 
now adorns the city and is an honor to the State. After the 
dedication ceremonies, woi’k was discontinued on it for some 
time, and it was not until 1865, that labor was recommenced 
in earnest. Up to November 1, 1875, the cost, added to the 
usual items for repairs and improvements, amounted to $2,449,- 
428.31. The building is 240 feet in height, the height of the 
main building being 94 feet. Its depth is 149 feet and its 
length 282. The Assembly Chamber is 73 by 75, with a height 
of 48 feet, the Senate 73 by 56, with the same height. The 
first or ground story of the building, is 16 feet above level of the 
surrounding streets. 

The State Capitol, one of the prettiest in America, stands in 
a park of eight blocks, terraced and ornamented with walks, 
drives, trees, shrubs, and plants, forming one of the prettiest 
spots in the country. This fine structure cost about $2,500,000, 
and its towering dome, surmounted by the Temple and Goddess 













































72 


A NEW CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. 


of Liberty, rises 240 feet, and is the first object presented to 
view in the distance from whatever direction the traveler 
approaches the city. A fine engraving of this building will be 
found as a frontispiece. 

The State Capitol Park, in which are located the Capitol build¬ 
ing, the State Armory, and the State Printing Office, embraces 
ten full blocks of land, and the breadth of four streets, running 
north and south. Recent improvements lay out the grounds 
in a graceful landscape style, of extensive lawn and clumps 
of trees, and arranges them more especially as a drive. The 
main drive is in the form of an ellipse, the roadway being forty 
feet in width, and estimated to be about two-thirds of a mile 
in length. It is bordered by a double row of trees, and the 
grounds intervening between the roadway and the fences 
are being tastefully laid out in the best style of landscape gar¬ 
dening. 


LIST OF CALIFORNIA GOVERNORS. 

The Governors of California since its settlement to the pres¬ 
ent time were as follows :— 

SPANISH RULE. 


Gaspar de Portala.1767-1771 

Felipe de Barri.1771-1774 

Felipe de Neve.1774-1782 

Pedro Fajes.1782-1890 

Jose Antonio Romea.1790-1792 

*Jose J. de Arrillaga.1792—1794 

Diego de Borica. 1794-1800 

Jose J. de Arrillaga.1800-1814 

*Jose Arguello.1814-1815 

Pablo Vincente de Sola.1815-1822 


MEXICAN RULE. 


FORMING OF A NEW CONSTITUTION. 

The Constitution which was framed at Monterey, when the 
State was yet in its swaddling clothes, answered every pur¬ 
pose for a number of years, but the entire body politic had 
changed, and the popular voice became clamorous for a change 
in the organic law of the State. The question had often been 
before mooted, and votes taken upon calling a convention for 
the purpose of framing a new Constitution, but public senti¬ 
ment did not reach the requisite condition until the general 
election of 1877, at which time “Constitutional Convention, 
Yes,” carried with an overwhelming majority. During the 
session of the Legislature, which followed this election, a bill 
was framed and passed, which provided for the election of dele¬ 
gates to the convention, and which was approved March 30, 
1878. Thirty-two of the delegates were to be elected from the 
State at large, not more than eight of whom should reside in 
any one Congressional district. In accordance with a procla¬ 
mation issued by the Governor, an election for the purpose of 
of choosing delegates to the convention was held June 19, 1878. 
The body comprising the Constitutional Convention, met at Sac¬ 
ramento City, September 28th of that year, and continued in 
session 175 days. The day set for the people of the State to 
adopt or reject the result of the labors of the Convention was 
May 7, 1879, and there was a very strong, and in some instances, 
a bitter fight made over it; those opposing it, citing wherein the 
old Constitution had proved satisfactory, and wherein the new 
organic law would prove disastrous ; while those who desired its 
adoption were as ready to show up the weak points of the old, 
and its inadequacy to the demands of the present advanced 
state of affairs, and wherein a new would almost prove a 
panacea for all our ills, both social, moral, and political. Thus 
the matter continued to be agitated until the day had come on 
which the die should be cast, and greatly to the surprise of 
everybody, the decision of the people of the State was in favor 
of the new law. 


Pablo Vincente de Sola. 

Luis Arguello. 

Jose Maria de Echeandia 

Manuel Victoria. 

*Pio Pico. 

Jose Figuerra. 

*Jose Castro. 

Nicolas Gutierrez. 

Mariano Chico. 

Nicolas Gutierrez. 

Juan B. Alvarado. 

Manuel Michel torena 
Pio Pico. 


.1822-1823 

.1823-1825 

.June, 1825—Jan., 1831 
.Jan., 1831—Jan., 1832 
.Jan., 1S32—Jan., 1833 
.Jan., 1833—Aug., 1835 
Aug., 1835—Jan., 1S36 
.Jan., 1836—Apr., 1836 
.Apr., 1836—Aug., 1836 
Aug., 1836—Nov., 1836 
Nov., 1836—Dec., 1842 
.Dec., 1842—Feb., 1845 
.Feb., 1845—July 1846 


AMERICAN RULE—TERRITORIAL. 


Com. John D. Sloat. . . 
Com. R. F. Stockton. . 
Col. John C. Fremont 
Gen. S. W. Kearny.. . 
Col. Richard B. Mason 
Gen. Bennet Riley 


.July 7, 1846—Aug. 17. 1846 
Aug. 17, 1846—Jan. —, 1847 
Jan. —, 1847—Mar. 1, 1847 
.Mar. 1, 1847—May 31, 1847 
May 31, 1847—Apr. 13', 1849 
Apr. 13, 1849—Dec. 20, 1849 


STATE—GOVERNORS. 

NAME. 

1'Peter H. Burnett. 

John McDougal. 

John Bigler. 

John Bigler. 

J. Neely Johnson. 

John B. Weller. 

FMilton S. Latham. 

John G. Downey. 

Leland Stanford.. 

[[Frederick F. Low. 

Henry H. Haight. .. 

-fNewton Booth. 

Romualdo Pacheco. 

William Irwin. 

George C. Perkins. 


INAUGURATED. 

Dec. 20, 1849 
.Jan. 9, 1851 
.Jan. 8, 1852 
.Jan. 8, 1854 
Jan. 8, 1856 
Jan. 8, 1858 
Jan. 8, 1860 
Jan. 14, 1860 
Jan. 8, 1862 
.Dec. 2, 1863 
.Dec. 5, 1867 
.Dec. 8, 1871 
.Feb. 27, 18”5 
Dec. 9, 1375 
.Jan. 5, 1880 


* Ad interim. 


t Resigned. 


t Term increased from two to four years. 

























































ELLIOTT. UTH.42I WONT ST. 


RESIDENCE OF G.F.RICE. OUTSIDE CREEK TULARE CO. CAL 




6 MILES EAST OF VISALIA. TULARE CO.CAL 


RESIDENCE OF J.C.FISHER 


a 







































































































































































































































































































































73 


GREAT MOUNTAIN RANGES OF THE STATE. 


Geographical Features. 

The Coast Range of mountains runs parallel to the ocean, and 
has an altitude of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet above the sea, and 
an average width of twenty to forty miles. 

On the general eastern boundary of California, and running 
nearly its entire length, lies the Sierra Nevada (snowy range), 
its summit being generally above the region of perpetual snow. 
In this State it is about 450 miles long and 80 miles wide, with 
an altitude varying from 5,000 to 15,000 feet above the level 
of the sea. Nearly its whole width is occupied with its west¬ 
ern slope, descending to a level of 300 feet above the sea; its 
eastern slope, five or six miles wide, terminating abruptly in the 
great interior basin, which is 5,000 feet above the sea level. The 
sides of the Sierra Nevada, to the height of about 8,000 feet, 
are covered with dense forests of valuable timber, which is suc¬ 
ceeded by rugged granite and perpetual snow. 

THE CALIFORNIA ALPS. 

John Muir saysof the region about the head-waters of King’s 
River:— 

“ Few portions of the California Alps are, strictly speaking 
picturesque. The whole massive uplift of the range, 450 miles 
long by about seventy miles wide, is one grand picture, not 
clearly divisible into smaller ones ; in this respect it differs 
greatly from the older and riper mountains of the Coast Range. 
All the landscapes of the Sierra were remodeled deep down to 
the roots of their granite foundations by the developing ice- 
floods of the last geological winter. 

“ On the head-waters of the King’s River is a group of 
wild Alps on which the geologist may say the sun has but just 
begun to shine, yet in a high degree picturesque, and in all its 
main features so regular and evenly balanced as almost to 
appear conventional—one somber cluster of snow-laden peaks 
with gray pine-fringed granite bosses braided around its base, 
the whole surging free into the sky from the head of a magnifi¬ 
cent valley, whose bfty walls are beveled away on both sides 
so as to embrace it all without admitting anything not strictly 
belonging to it. The foreground was now all aflame with 
autumn colors, brown and purple and gold, ripe with the mel¬ 
low sunshine; contrasting brightly with the deep, cobalt blue 
of the sky, and the black and gray and pure, spiritual white of 
the rocks and glaciers. Down through the midst the young 
river was seen pouring from its crystal fountains, now resting 
in glassy pools as if changing back again into ice; now leap¬ 
ing in white cascades as if turning to snow; gliding right and 
left between the granite bosses, then sweeping on through the 
smooth meadowy levels of the valley, swaying pensively from 
side to side with calm, stately gestures, past dipping willows 
and sedges, and around groves of arrowy pine; and throughout 
its whole eventful course, flowing fast or slow, singing loud or 
low, ever filling the landscape with spiritual animation, and 


manifesting the grandeur of its sources in every movement and 
tone.” 

MOUNT DIABLO. 

The most familiar peak in the State is, however, Mount 
Diablo, being very near its geographical center, and towering 
above all other peaks—prominent from its inaccessibility and 
magnificent panoramic sweep from its top—prominent from its 
selection by the Government as the initial point of base and 
meridian lines in the land survey, it being the reference point 
in about two-thirds of the State. 

It stands out boldly 3,856 feet high, overlooking the tran¬ 
quil ocean, thirty miles due east from the Golden Gate, serving 
as a beacon to the weary, ses-tossed mariner, far out on the blue, 
briny billows, pointing him to a haven of security in the great 
harbor through the Golden Gate itself; and even on through 
bay and strait to anchorages safe and deep, up to where the 
foot-stones of the great pile meet and kiss the brackish waters. 
Grand old mountain, majestic, silent, yet a trumpet-tongued 
preacher 1 Who is there of the prosperous dwellers upon its 
slopes, or near its grateful shadows, that, going or coming by 
land or sea, does not look upon that blue receding or advanc¬ 
ing pile with a full heart ? 

It is believed there are few points on the earth’s surface from 
which so extensive an area can be seen as from this mountain. 
The writer has from its summit, counted thirty-five cities and 
villao-es, where reside two-thirds of the inhabitants of the 
State. 

The two great mountain ranges unite at the northern and 
southern part of the State, each connecting range having a 
lofty peak. 

MOUNT SHASTA. 

In the northern connecting link is Mount Shasta, 14,442 feet 
high. It rears its great craggy snow-covered summit high in 
the air, and is often seen at a distance of 200 miles at the south¬ 
west. It takes about three days to reach its summit and return. 
You can ride to the snow line the first day, ascend to the top 
the following morning, descend to your camp in the afternoon, 
and return to the valley on the third day. Mount Shasta has 
a glacier, almost, if not quite, the only one within the limits of 
the United States. The mountain is an extinct volcano. Its 
summit is composed of lava, and the eye can easily trace the 
now broken lines of this old crater when viewed from the north. 
Mount Shasta is clothed with snow for a virtual mile down from 
its summit during most of the year. 

MOUNTS WHITNEY AND SAN BENARDINO. 

Mount Whitney is the highest point in the United States (14,- 
900 feet); but Mount Shasta (14,442 feet) makes a more impos¬ 
ing appearance because it rises in solitary grandeur 7,000 feet 
above any mountains near it. A signal station has lately been 
established on Mount Whitney. In the Sierra Nevada Range 
are more than 100 peaks over 10,000 feet high, according to the 
















74 


TIIE GREAT VALLEYS AND PRODUCTIONS 


State Geographical Survey. In the southern connecting link 
is snow-capped Mount San Bernardino 11,600 feet above the sea 
level. 

GREAT SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. 

Between these two great mountain ranges, lies the great inte¬ 
rior basin of the State, comprising the Sacramento and San Joa¬ 
quin Valleys, really but one geographical formation, drained 
by the two great rivers bearing their respective names, and 
their tributaries ; an uninterrupted level country of exceeding 
fertility, and the great future wheat growing section of the 
State. This basin extends north and south about 400 miles, 
with an average breadth of from fifty to sixty miles, rising into 
undulating slopes and low hills as the mountains are approached 
on either side. It is covered with a diluvium from 400 to 
1,500 feet deep, and presents evidences of having once been 
the bed of a vast lake. 

Innumerable valleys are formed by spurs shooting off' from 
the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Range, and from the 
Coast Range on either side, extending the entire length of the 
State; well watered by springs and living streams, possessing 
a good soil and climate, and every way adapted to profitable 
mixed husbandly. 

This great valley is drained from the north by the Sacra¬ 
mento River, and from the south by the San Joaquin, which, 
after meeting and uniting in the center of the bas : n, break 
through the Coast Range to the Pacific. At the southern 
extremity are the Tulare Lakes and marshes which, in the wet 
season, cover a large extent of surface. Along the great rivers 
the valleys ai'e generally low and level, and extremely fertile 
rising into undulating slopes and low hills as the mountains 
are approached on either side, and broken on the east by num¬ 
erous spurs from the Sierras. The following table gives the 
most noted elevations in the State and their distance from San 
Francisco. 

ALTITUDE OF PROMINENT POINTS IN THE STATE. 


NAMES OF PLACES. 

(SIERRA NEVADA RANGE.) 

Distance 
fr’m S.F. 

Altitude 
ub’ve sea 

Mount Whitney. 

173 

14,900 

Mount Shasta. 

244 

14,442 

Mount Tyndall. 

160 

14,3S6 

Mount Dana. 

148 

13,227 

Mount Lyell. 

144 

13,217 

Mount Drewer. 

152 

13.8S6 

Mount Sillitnan. 

130 

11,623 

Lassen Butte. 

183 

10,577 

Stanislaus Peak. 

125 

11,500 

Round Top. 

120 

10,650 

Downieville Buttes . . 

157 

8,720 

Colfax Village. 

144 

2,431 

Sacramento. 

00 

30 


NAMES OF PLACES. 
(COAST RANGE.) 

Distance 
fr’m S. F. 

Altitude 
ab’ve sea 

Snow Mountain. 

114 

7,500 

Mount St. John. 

06 

4,500 

Mount Hamilton .... 

52 

4,400 

Mount St. Helena . . . 

70 

4,343 

Mount Diablo. 

32 

3,856 

Mount Loma Prieta.. 

54 

4,040 

Mount Bailey. 

280 

6,375 

Mount Tamalpais... . 

15 

2,604 

Marysville Butte*... 

02 

2,030 

Farallone Islands .... 

34 

200 

Clay Street Hill. 

— 

387 

Red Bluff. 

225 

307 

Reddine. 

260 

558 


THE STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. 


Prior to 1864, no very marked results were reached in farm¬ 
ing in California, the export of agricultural products, with the 
exception of wool, not having been such as to attract attention 
abroad. And owing to the drought that prevailed in 1863 and 
1864, Calito n;a had but little grain or other farm produce to 


spare, flour having been to some extent imported. The large 
extent, undoubted fertility, and known capabilities of the lands 
of the San Joaquin, Sacramento and Salinas Valleys give assur¬ 
ance that agriculture will become the predominant interest of 
its people. 

The principal staples which the soil and climate of these val¬ 
leys favor are the cereal grains. Wild oats are indigenous to 
the country, and on lands allowed to run wild, will run out 
other small grains, but are cultivated only as a forage plant 
which, cut while green, makes an excellent hay. Barley also 
thrives well, and, in a green state, is often cut for hay. But 
the great staple, from being “the staff of life,” and the ease of 
cultivation over other products in this climate, is wheat. In a 
moderately rainy season it is capable of perfecting its growth 
before the heats of summer have evaporated the moisture from 
the roots, and a crop is nearly sure of being made. No disease, 
rust, or insect harms the grain, although smut was in early 
days very prevalent, but, by proper treatment has nearly dis¬ 
appeared. There has always been a good demand for the sur¬ 
plus crop of this cereal, in the mines and for export, and its 
cultivation has been profitable. 

Cotton cultivation has been experimented upon in Fresno 
County, and in the Tulare Basin, where the yield has averaged 
500 pounds to the acre of a fine textile fibre. 

Next to the cultivation of cereals, the vine engrosses the minds 
of California agriculturists more than any other production, 
the product of her vineyards finding favor in all parts of the 
world. 

Nearly a thousand vessels enter the port of San Francisco in 
a year, and a large number of these are required to carry the 
wheat to Europe. Some $15,000,000 is annually received fur 
wheat alone, and it is shipped to the following countries, 
arranged in order according to the amount which was sent 
them: Great Britain, Belgium, France, Australia, Spain, South 
America, New Zealand, China, Germany, Hawaiian Islands, 
British Columbia, Tahiti, and Mexico. By this list it is seen 
that we contribute breadstuffs to nearly every country of the 
globe. 

California’s varied industries. 

California has now a total area of 7,000,000 acres inclosed, 
4,000,000 cultivated—nine-tenths of the cultivated land beiim 
in cereals, and 90,000 in grape-vines. She has 2,500,000 bearing 
trees of temperate fruits—apple, pear, peach, plum, prune, apri¬ 
cot, nectarine, and cherry—300,000 bearing trees of semi-tropi- 
ical fruits— orange, lemon, lime, fig, and olive—400,000 almond 
and English walnut trees, 4,400 miles of mining ditchs, 260 
gold quartz-mills, 300 saw-mills and 140 grist-mills. Among 
her annual products are 12,000 tons of wool, 5,000 of butter, 
1,500 of cheese and 500 of honey, 6,000,000 gallons of wine and 
14,000,000 of beer, and 500,000,000 feet of sawn lumber. The 
assessed value of her property is $578,000,000, of which half 
is in San Francisco and its suburbs. 











































AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS OF THE STATE. 


75 


AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS. 


BEANS AND POTATOES. 


It is as an agricultural State now, however, that California 
is attracting attention, and to show what we are doing in that 
line we append a table of receipts and exports from San Fran¬ 
cisco of wheat, hour, barley, oats, beaus and potatoes since 
1856. 

Each year terminates with June 30th :— 

WHEAT AND FLOUR. 



RECEIPTS. 


EXPORTS. 


Equal to 


Equal to 


bbls. Hour. 


bbls. Flour. 

1857. 

. 151,470 

1857... 

. 43,960 

185S. 

. 116.474 

1858 .. 

. 6,654 

1859. 


1859 

20 618 

1860. 

. 419,749 

1860.. 

. 186,182 

1861 . 

. 834,020 

1861.. 


1862. 

. 560,304 

1862.. 


1863. 

. 781,138 

1863.. 

. 492,724 

1864. 

. 715,975 

1864.. 

. 509,730 

1865 . 


1865.. 

. 99,932 

1866. 

. 917,217 

1866.. 

. 626,060 

1867. 

.1.967,197 

-1867.. 

.1.697,402 

1868 

.1,878,508 

1868.. 

.1.691.115 

1869. 

.2,238,800 

1869.. 


1870 

.2,244,061 

1870.. 

.1 974,259 

1871 . 


1871 . . 

.1,386,831 

1872 . 

. 937,203 

1872.. 

. 738 206 

1873 

.3,815,911 

1873.. 


1874 . 

.3,079,473 

1874.. 


1875 

.3,731,104 

1875... 


1876. 

.2,652,461 

1876 . 

.2,490,633 

1877. 

.4.115,554 

1877 . 

.4.029,253 

1 878 . 

.1,864,644 

1878... 

.1,765 304 

1879. 

.3,839,180 

1879.. 


1880. 


1880... 

.2,591,545 


BARLEY AND OATS. 



BAHLK\ 

1 

OATS. 


Receipts, 

Exports, 


Receipts, 

Exports, 


in centals. 

in centals. 


in centals. 

in centals. 

1857 

455,823 

66,368 

1857 

157,344 

8,370 

1858 

637,568 

142,612 

1858 

186,039 

107,659 

1859 

779,870 

295,836 

1859 

320,248 

218,647 

I860 

549,293 

69,246 

1860 

216,898 

90,682 

1861 

677,455 

339,536 

1861 

315,078 

116,467 

1862 

611,227 

188,617 

1862 

351,633 

154,585 

1863 

432,203 

49,809 

1863 

177,105 

39,986 

1864 

611.143 

40,329 

1864 

304,044 

91,086 

1865 

438,432 

13,920 

1865 

273,973 

3.366 

1866 

1,037,209 

349,990 

1866 

343,042 

113,966 

1867 

730,112 

142,154 

1867 

328,478 

89,331 

1868 

638,920 

31,342 

1868 

221,811 

5,685 

1869 

608,988 

91,202 

1869 

234,498 

21,934 

1870 

752,418 

300,528 

1870 

299,143 

13,957 

1871 

701.639 

138,008 

1871 

304,153 

13,227 

1872 

792,198 

16,707 

1872 

358,531 

11,707 

1873 

981,028 

226,928 

1873 

200,545 

5,437 

1874 

1,127,390 

243,752 

1874 

243,400 

27,640 

1875 

1.243 657 

182,146 

1875 

305,844 

56,023 

1876 

1.142,154 

204,131 

1876 

233,960 

3,101 

1877 

1,552,765 

282,875 

1877 

210,257 

4,479 

1878 

858,967 

88,887 

1878 

145,413 

10,756 

1879 

1,752,712 

468,335 

1879 

253,802 

29,253 

1880 

1,191,451 

411,145 

1880 

143,366 

5,372 



BEANS. 



POTATOES. 


Receipts, 
in sacks. 

Exports, 
in sacks. 


Receipts, 
in sacks. 

Exports, 
in sacks. 

1857 

55,268 

638 

1857 

343,681 


1858 

65,076 

6,721 

1858 

330,307 


1859 

69,082 

22,953 

1859 

292,458 

. 

1860 

38,714 

8,300 

1860 

326,973 

11,955 

1861 

34,188 

4.675 

1861 

317,419 

40,997 

1862 

58,294 

11,789 

1862 

293,074 

5,815 

1 863 

59,620 

2,863 

1863 

364,423 

14,952 

1864 

83,568 

21,619 

1864 

376,046 

22,161 

1865 

47,822 

4,244 

1865 

346,654 

5,976 

1866 

45,717 

6,662 

1866 

515,807 

16,984 

1867 

50,678 

2,921 

1807 

543,193 

7,378 

1868 

50,638 

12,917 

1868 

632,086 

19,133 

1869 

53.711 

1,899 

1869 

604,392 

24,360 

1870 

99,585 

7,890 

1870 

701,960 

24,710 

1871 

85,618 

21,800 

1871 

700,122 

18 880 

1872 

56,390 

7,479 

1872 

720 077 

36,578 

1873 

70,048 

5,997 

1873 

779,379 

27,986 

1874 

89,091 

5,739 

1874 

781,04!) 

33,772 

1875 

113,577 

8,156 

1875 

752,456 

29,441 

1876 

115,128 

17,296 

1876 

731,207 

25,684 

1877 

117,860 

10,512 

1877 

810,576 

36,818 

1878 

80,116 

12,705 

1878 

624,353 

18,840 

1879 

207,193 

17,871 

1879 

750,211 

23,440 

1880 

198,249 

28,740 

1880 

590,611 

36,200 


STATE LANDS AND HOW DIVIDED. 


State Surveyor-General, William Minis, places the area of 
the State at 100,500,000 acres, divided as follows :— 


Agricultural and mineral lands surveyed to June 

30, 1879. 40,054,114 

Agricultural and mineral lands unsurveyed. 39,065,754 

Private grants surveyed to June 30, 1879. 8,459,694 

Mission Church property. 40,707 

Pueblo Lands. 188,049 

Private grants unsurveyed. 15,000 

Indian and military reservations. 318,(.31 

Lakes, islands, bays and navigable rivers. . 1,561,700 

Swamp and overflowed lands unsurveyed. 110,714 

Salt marsh and tide lands around San Francisco bay 100,000 
Salt marsh and tide lands around Humboldt bay. 5,000 


Aggregate.100,500,000 


OWNERSHIP AND CULTIVATION OF LAND. 

From various official sources we have compiled the subjoined 
table, showing the total area, the area sold by the Government 
(that is, held by private ownership), the area enclosed, and the 
area cultivated, in every county of the State—all in square 
miles. The figures are not exact, nor is it possible to make 
them so from any official records now in existence. The area 
“ sold ” is that treated as subject to taxation in the several 
counties, and the areas enclosed and cultivated are reported 
annually in the Assessor’s reports. 

In some cases, considerable quantities of land have been dis¬ 
posed of by the Federal Government, but in such a manner 
that they are not subject to taxation. Thus, the Southern Pa¬ 
cific Railroad Company has built 150 miles of its road in San 
l)iego county, and is entitled to twenty square miles of land as 
subsidy for each mile of the road, making a total of 3,000 
square miles; but this land has not yet been conveyed by patent, 
and nobody is authorized to say precisely which section will 
pass under the grant. The total areas, as given in the fob owing 
table, are taken from calculations made by J. II. Wilde, E q. 































































































































7G 


SIZE AND WEALTH OF EACH OF THE COUNTIES. 


DIAGRAM SHOWING COMPARATIVE SIZE OF COUNTIES, j 

Prepared for Elliott & Moore's County History. 

Arranged in square miles, each square represents 50 square miles land. 

Each black g square represents 50 square miles cultivated, fractions omitted. 
Each dotted [7] square represents 50 square miles sold bat not cultivated. 
Each open |~~| square represents 50 square miles unsold land, not assessed. 

Tlie areas in the table are not exact. The cultivated and assessed land and 
valuations are from Assessor’s reports. About one twenty-fourth of the State is 


NAME. 


AREA. CULTIVATED. SOLD. VALUATION. 

San Luis Obispo. 3,160 00 1,500_$4, 137,570 

TINT M~M 1 ■ i • I •! * i. I. I ■ I • i • I * ■4M • I • I •! • i • I • • 1 • • i M I 1 IJ 


cultivated, and about one-fourth belongs to individuals. 


VALUATION, 


NAME. 

AREA. 

CULTIVATED. 

SOLD. 

Real and Personal. 

Santa Cruz. 

IMMMMI 1 1 

433 

35 

3S0 

$ 5,616,553 

San Mateo. 

HWMMIMlMI 

Marin. 

450 

575 

90 

25 

450 

490 

6,157,210 

7,868,917 

K I • 1 * M • 1 • M • 1 • 

M 1 1 




Sutter. 

576 

325 

576 

3,906,203 

iirareiiN 

Yuba. 

IMM 

600 

90 

300 

4,268,250 

SIBMNM 1 1 

INI 




Amador. 

700 

45 

200 

2,724,449 

■IMM 1 1 II 

MINI 




Contra Costa. 

756 

ISO 

700 

7,720,292 

PWwImmTX 

• 1 • M • M 1 




Alameda. 

800 

105 

650 

37,452,230 

aai minimi- 

M • M • 1 1 1 1 




Solano. 

800 

190 

790 

8,671,022 

fcHiiiMMM 

IMMM -M 




N apa. 

8*26 

40 

350 

7,873,926 

Hi • M • M • M 1 

1 1 II 1 1 1 1 




Sierra. 

830 

4 

140 

751,005 

IXM MINI 

XTTI Mil 




Calaveras. 

936 

35 

320 

1,829,865 

9INMNM 1 1 

1 1 1 II 1 1 1 

1 1 



Lake. 

975 

30 

230 

1,213,084 

■ M M M INI 

MINIM 

1 1 



San Benito. 

1,000 

5^> 

480 

3,774,603 

fsMmimimm 

•MINIM 

1 1 1 



Sacramento. 

1,026 

170 

9S0 

18,578,385 




- 


Nevada, 


1,050 


SO 


Yolo. 

naMT 


M i i i i ii i i i 


1.150 


.’15 

TT1 


Santa Clara. 


1,336 


350 


500 

8S0 

850 


1 1 


• I I I II I I I I I 


San Joaquin. 


1,350 


475 


1,350 


Stanislaus. 


1,350 


■ 


Ventura. 


1,380 


• I • I • I • I • I • I ■ I * I 

590 1,220 

•l-H-l-H i I 

700 


78 


M M M • M M M • 1 • II I I I I I I I I I I I I I 

Placer. ' 1,380 150 600 


AIT 


'1*1 


Sonoma. 




1,400 


MM 


310 1,200 

1 1 • i • I • H • I ■ I IHT 


Mariposa. 


1,440 


300 


Del Norte. 


1,440 


80 


r 


i 


Butte._ 

IVIIIIIIL 


1,458 


370 


Trinity. 


1,800 


12 


TT 


750 

LQ 

100 


I 


El Dorado. 

r 


1,872 


20 


330 


• • • • 


Tuolumne. 


1,950 


86 


290 


• • • • 


LL 


Merced. 


1,975 


IM 


480 

TI • I • I • I • I ■ 


Monterey. 


3,300 


300 


1,150 


7,185,1S5 


-•I I I I I | | 


I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I 

Santa Barbara. 


3,540 


90 


1,300 


4,479,829 


I • I ■ NT 


M 


I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I l.u 

Mendocino. 3,816 95 1,100 _ 5.508,650 


B 


i • i • I • r 


uj: 1 111111111111 i i i ii 11111 . u i i 11 i i □ 

1,691,779 


Mono. 


4.186 


10 


80 


■ Mi l LLU_I M M 1 I TTTI l I I f LIJLLL LLI I I LI. I I 


rn~rn 


l I 


l 


Shasta. 


4,500 


1,800 


1,963,320 


T 


1 | 

II 1 1 

11 1 1 1 1 1 11 111 1 1 i 11 1 ii 1 1 1 1 11 1 11 

1 1 

1 II 1 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 11 1 


Lassen. 


4,942 


40 


320 


1,213,184 


6,821,306 

9,916,597 

23,628,845 

18,678,594 

6,031,988 

2,857,383 

5,832,925 

15,178,121 

1,299,950 

695,850 

10,065,097 


898,610 


s 


2,331,350 


1,649,611 


1,500 _5,712,657 

•MAM I I I 111 


Humboldt. 


2,000 


45 


1,100 


Ei UMM • I • M ■ I ■ I • M • I ■ I • 1 1 


5,355,028 


Colusa. 


2,376 


435 




M • 1 1 




Plumas. 

IIMm 


2,736 


10 


290 


1,926,154 


Tehama. 


2,800 


300 


750 


IM ■ M • I ■ M • M ■ 

rrrn.mil i 11 i i 


4.192,548 


Siskiyou. 

ail 

n 11 


3,040 


48 


300 


. 


rr 


2,651,367 


MM 


Tulare. 


5,500 


150 


1,900 


4,094,250 


IjlLU I I I I I ill I M I 




Inyo. 

f 


5,852 


10 


110 


972.401 


I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I 


Los Angeles. 


6.000 


170 


2,200 


16,160,983 


■ I • •! • 1 1 


■ 1.1. 


,!. . 1 . 


m • i ■ MM 


I I 


II 


:□ 


Modoc. 


7,380 


40 


250 


1,239,152 


■ 

• 1 • M • 1 1 1 1 

1 II 1 

1 1 1 

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 II 1 II II 1 1 

1 

1 II 1 1 1 

1 1 1 1 

1 1 1 

II 1 1 1 M 1 1 1 1 II 1 1 1 1! 1 

l 

II 1 1 II 

1 1 1 1 

II 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M II 1 1 II 

n n 

1 

1 II 1 1 1 

II 1 1 ! II 1 II 1 i II I l 11 M II i 



Tvern. 


8,000 


40 


2,000 


4,485,997 


IIMMM 1 MH, 


L 


I 


I • • • M • 1 • M • I • I • M •' ■ I • 1 • I •! • I 


XL 


LLLLLL 


Fresno. 


8,750 


110 


2,800 


6,055,062 


TMI MMMIM 


San Diego. 


15,156 


I'.M'IAI'I 
JXLLLU 
IJXI I I I 
uinn 


28 


600 


3,161,177 


■ MMIMM-MMIMLi II I I | I 


XUJJJXLLLLLLLLLLLLL 


'u u 11 mti 11 n pin rr 
Lij ri 11111 n i i m 11 r 
u m i i mm i m rn 


i i i 


San Bernardino. 


1,800 12,546,242 


23,472 


85 


700 


m- . 

rn" 1 rrn 


•IMM 1 1 

11 1 1 11 

1 1 1 

1 1 1 

1 

1 

11 11 1 1 1 1 

1 1 11 n 1 


11 

1 r 

INI 

TlTT 

1 1 1 

1 rr 

1 

1 


"I L 


J L 


T! I IDT 


Total. ..164,031 


6,941 


I I" 


2,601,321 


]_r 


41,350 $578,839,214 


By way of comparison, on same scale, to show the vast size of California wo 
represent tlie State of I diode Island. 1,306 square miles. 


sane 





















































































































































































































































































































































































EUIOTT UTH.4-*IM0NT ST. 


RESIDENCE OF^GEO. W. WEAR* BAKERSFIELD. KERN CO. CAL 



__[TTHedeRaur. 111========= 

furnitur e DEALER & UNDERTAI 

CARPETS, WALL PAPER, WINDOW SHADES, PICTURE FRA 
SEWING MACHINE AGENCY. 


GOLDEN 
BOOT STORE 


D.M.MENZIES. 

Manufacturer 

OF BOOTS 4- SHOES. 


^*■*. 44 , 


J. NIEDERAUR’S STORE GOR.lSTH 3c K STS. BAKERSFIELD. KERN CO.CAL 







KS 

- 4 




ELLIOTT. L • TH . 4*i /MONT Si. 





































































































































































































































































































































































































































SCHOOLS AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 


77 


EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES. 

California has 2,743 public schools, with an attendance of 
144,805, and 216,464 children on the census roll. In the 
year 1878-79 there was $2,285,732.38 paid to teachers as salaries. 
Since the organization of California as a State, she has paid for 
the support of schools $38,500,000—not a bad showing. 

The educational system of the State has received much atten¬ 
tion and care from those in authority. Our public schools and 
higher institutions of learning are liberally endowed, and gene¬ 
rally efficient. The profession of teaching is held in high 
repute, and teachers command good salaries. We are justified, 
we think, in saying that the system of public schools established 
by the laws of California is in no respect inferior to the best in 
any other State in the Union. 

FIRST YANKEE SCHOOL-MASTER. 

In April, 1847, the first English school was opened in a small 
shanty on the block bounded by Dupont, Broadway, Pacific and 
Stockton Streets. Here were collected from twenty to thirty 
pupils, who then comprised nearly all the children of the city. 
It was a private institution and tvas supported by tuition fees 
from the pupils, and by the contributions of the citizens. It 
was taught by Mr. Marsten, who is entitled to the honor of 
being the first Yankee school-master upon the Pacific Coast. 
Although he continued his school but a few months, he per¬ 
formed an important part as a pioneer in establishing our 
schools, which should cause his name to be held in grateful 
remembrance by every friend of education. 

THE PIONEER LADY TEACHER. 

In January, 1848, Mrs. Mary A. Case located in Santa Cruz 
and opened a school in her own house, and taught two terms, 
when the discovery of gold broke up her school by the removal 
of families. Mrs. Case w r as, in 1879, still living in Santa Cruz. 
She was a native of Connecticut, and came to California in 
1847. Her husband, B. A. Case, died at Long Valley, Califor¬ 
nia, in 1871. 

FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL. 

Late in the fall of 1847, active measures were first taken by 
the citizens of San Francisco to organize a public school, which 
resulted in erecting a humble one-story school-house on the 
south-west part of Portsmouth Square, fronting on Clay Street, 
near where it joins Brenham Place. An engraving of this first 
public school-house in San Francisco has been preserved in the 
“Annals of San Francisco.” The history of this old building 
is cherished by the early pioneers with many pleasing associ- 
tions. Here germinated every new enterprise; here the town 
meetings and political conventions were held; here the churches 
first held their gatherings, and the first public amusements 
were given. After the discovery of gold it was deserted for 
school purposes, and was used as a Court House under Judge 


Almond. It was afterwards degraded into a public office and 
used as a station-house. It was demolished by the city in 
1850. 

On the 3d of April, 1848, the school was opened in the build¬ 
ing described, under the instruction of Mr. Thomas Douglass, 
now residing in San Jose, an able and zealous pioneer in the 
cause of education. He was appointed teacher by the Board of 
School Trustees, at a salary of $1,000 per month. The popu¬ 
lation at this time was 812, of whom sixty were children of a 
suitable age for attending school. Although it was a public 
school under the control of regularly elected officers, it was 
mainly supported by tuition from the pupils. The success and 
usefulness of this school were soon paralyzed by the great dis¬ 
covery of gold, which for a time depopulated the town, leaving 
the teacher minus pupils, trustees and salary. He therefore 
closed his school and joined in the general exodus for the mines, 
the new El Dorado of untold wealth. 

In the general excitement and confusion which followed the 
first rush for the “diggings,” the school enterprise was for a 
time abandoned. The education of the children, who were 
rapidly increasing from the flood of emigration pouring into 
San Francisco from every part of the world, was entirely 
neglected until the 23d of April, 1849, when the Rev. Albert 
Williams opened a school in his church. 

In October, 1849, Mr. J. C. Pelton and wife opened a school 
in the basement of the Baptist Church, on Washington, near 
Stockton Street, and in July, 1850, the “Happy Valley School” 
was opened in a little dilapidated building, in what was then 
called “ Happy Valley.” 

THE STATE UNIVERSITY. 

This important institution is situated at Berkeley, Alameda 
County, and is endowed by the various gifts of Congress with 
Seminary, Building and Agricultural College lands; also with a 
State endowment from the sale of tide lands, which yields an 
annual income of $52,000. Its production fund is larger than 
that of the University of Michigan. It has an able corps of 
Professoi's and instructors, some of whom have a national repu¬ 
tation. The names of 336 students are upon its catalogue, dis¬ 
tributed in the various departments of science and art. Its 
buildings and grounds are extensive, and for beauty of situa¬ 
tion, or the thoroughness of its instruction in literature and 
science, it cannot be excelled. Its Medical Department is in 
the city of San Francisco. The University is free to both 
sexes. 

The Normal School, at San Jose, is one of the most admir¬ 
ably managed of our State Institutions. It has an excellent 
faculty anil over 400 students. An additional Normal School 
is about to be erected at Los Angeles. 

California has, besides these State Institutions, fifteen col¬ 
leges endowed or maintained by the different religious denomin¬ 
ations. 






78 


BAYS, LAKES, AND NAVIGABLE STREAMS. 


DIMENSIONS OF CALIFORNIA. 

Width on the north end, 21G miles; extreme extension from 
west to east, 352 miles; average width,about 235 miles; exten¬ 
sion from north to south, 655 miles. A direct line from the 
northwest corner of the State to Fort Yuma, being the longest 
line in the State, is 830 miles; a direct line from San Francisco 
to Los Angeles, 342 miles; a direct line from San Francisco to 
San Diego, 451 miles. San Diego lies 350 miles south, and 285 
miles east of San Francisco. Los Angeles lies 258 miles south, 
and 225 miles east of San Francisco. Cape Mendocino, the 
most westerly point in the State, is 96 miles west of San Fran¬ 
cisco and 185 miles north. 

California has an area of 164,981 square miles, or 100,947,- 
840 acres, of which 80,000,000 acres are suited to some kind of 
profitable husbandry. It is four times greater in area than Cuba. 
It will make four States as large as New York, which has a popu¬ 
lation of nearly 5,000,OOU. It will make five States the size of 
Kentucky, which has a population of 1,321,000. It will make 
24 States the size of Massachusetts, having a population of 
1,500,000. It has an area of 144 times as great as Rhode Island. 
It is four-fifths the size of Austria, and nearly as large as 
France, each having a population of 36,000,000. It is nearly 
twice the size of Italy, with 27,000,000 inhabitants, and is one 
and one-half times greater than Great Britain and Ireland, hav¬ 
ing a population of 32,000,000. Its comparative size is best 
shown by the diagram on page 76. 

California needs population—she is susceptible of sustaining 
millions where she now has thousands. 

With industry, economy, sobriety, and honesty of purpose, no 
man in this State, with rare exceptions, will fail of success in 
the ordinary pursuits of life. 

BAYS, HARBORS, ISLANDS, AND LAKES. 

California has a sea-coast extending the whole length of the 
State, amounting, following the indentations, to somewhat over 
700 miles. The principal bays and harbors, beginning on the 
south, are San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Mont¬ 
erey, San Francisco, Tomales, Bodega, Humboldt, Trinidad and 
Cresent City Bay. 

San Francisco Bay, the most capacious and best protected 
harbor on the western coast of North America, is nearly fifty 
miles long (including its extension, San Pablo Bay,) and about 
nine miles wide. The entrance to the bay is through a strait 
about five miles long and a mile wide, and is named Chrys- 
opylse, or Golden Gate. 

There are few lakes worthy of mention in California. The 
largest is Tulare, in the southern part of the State, which is 
very shoal. It is about thirty-three miles long by twenty-two 
wide, though in the wet season it covers a much larger area. 
Owens, Kern, and Buena Vista are much smaller lakes, in the 
same vicinity. 


Lake Tahoe, in Placer County, thirteen hours from Sacra¬ 
mento by rail, is visited by the tourist, attracted by the won¬ 
ders of the scenery, oftener than the invalid; has a pure mountain 
air, with a most charmingsummer climate, there being no exces¬ 
sive heat, and only an occasional and enjoyable thunder-storm. 
Here, besides the lake and the streams, are the waters of mount¬ 
ain springs and hot and cold mineral springs. There is trout 
fishing in the streams as well as in the lake, where a number 
of fish are taken—trout of several kinds, from a quarter of a 
pound to five pounds in weight, minnows, white fish, and sev¬ 
eral other sorts. Several of the beaches or bays of the lake are 
of interest, as Emerald and Carnelian Bays, carnelian stones 
being picked up that are very pretty. The lake is more than 
6,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is twenty-two by 
twelve miles in size. Its greatest measured depth is something 
over 1,500 feet, and this great depth makes the principal won¬ 
der of the lake. The water is fresh, varying from thirty-nine 
to sixty degrees in temperature, and the extreme cold of the 
depth, which prevents drowned bodies from decomposing and 
risinor to the surface, has given rise to the erroneous belief that 
the water is not buoyant, and will not float any object. 

Donner Lake, near the scene of the Donner tragedy, is a small 
body of water much visited by tourists, situated near the east¬ 
ern border of the State. 

Lake Mono, fourteen miles long from east to west and nine 
miles wide, lies in Mono County, east of the Sierra Nevada. 
The water, being saturated with various mineral substances, 
the chief of which are salt, lime, borax, and carbonate of soda, 
is intensely bitter and saline, and of such high specific gravity 
that the human body floats in it very lightly. No living thing 
except the larvie of a small fly and a small crustacean, 
inhabits this lake, which is sometimes called the Dead Sea of 
California. 

The other lakes are: Clear, in Lake County, in the western 
part of the State, about ten miles long; and Klamath and 
Goose Lakes, lying partly in Oregon. 

CHIEF NAVIGABLE STREAMS. 

The Sacramento is about 370 miles long, and is navigable' 
for large steamboats at all seasons to Sacramento, ninety miles 
from its mouth, or 120 miles from San Francisco, and for 
smaller craft to Red Bluff, 150 or 200 miles above Sacramento. 

The San Joaquin, about 350 miles long, is navigable for ordin¬ 
ary steamers to Stockton, and for small craft during the rainy 
season to the mouth of the Tulare Slough, about 150 miles. 
The Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced empty into 
the San Joaquin. Tule and swamp lands line the banks of the 
river. The soil is rich and needs only to be protected against 
high waters, to equal any in the State for production. The 
tides are a sort of tall rush, and in early times, fires swept over 
them as on a prairie. The effect is faintly indicated in our 
engraving on page 43 

















THE TIMBER RESOURCES OF THE STATE. 


79 


THIS NATURAL WONDERS. 

Among the many remarkable natural curiosities of California 
is the valley of the Yo Semite. 

This far-famed valley is 140 miles east of San Francisco, 
and is a canon a mile wide and eight miles long. The bottom 
of the valley is more than 4,000 feet above sea level, and the 
walls rise as high as 4,000 feet. Its principal water fall (though 
not the only one, nor the most beautiful), has 2,600 feet to fall. 
Great cliffs, rising 6,000 feet high, and gigantic dome-shaped 
mountains,are gathered in this narrow valley, which are supposed 
to have been formed suddenly one day by a fissure, or crack, in 
the solid mountain chain. The valley scenery is of great beauty, 
and the summer climate is cool, with snow in winter. People 
camping in tents have an inclosure in Yo Semite set apart for 
them, and may also locate themselves in other parts of the val¬ 
ley, always under the stated regulations, which provide that 
fire-wood may be picked up, but never cut down; that fires 
must not be left burning; that fish may be taken with hook 
and line only, and that birds must not be killed. In the valley 
are three hotels, three stores, four livery stables, a blacksmith, 
a cabinetmaker, four photographers, a saloon, a bathing house, 
three carpenters and four laundries. 

The Big Trees of Mariposa, only one of several interesting 
groups in the State, are sixteen miles from Yo Semite. The tall¬ 
est tree in this grove is 325 feet high, and the thickest is twenty- 
seven feet through. The age of the oldest one, which has been 
counted by rings, is, 1,300 years old, its seed having taken root 
in this California valley, in the sixth century after Christ, when 
the world’s history (so called) was confined to that narrow 
strip of land along the Mediterranean Sea, with the barbarous 
nations on its borders. These trees are of the Sequoia Gigan- 
tea, and only the Eucalyptus Amygdalena of Australia ever 
grows so large. 

The Geysers are also remarkable natural phenomena. There 
is a collection of hot sulphur springs, more than 300 in number, 
covering about 200 acres, in a deep gorge, in the northeast part 
of Sonoma County. They are about 1,700 feet above the sea, 
and are surrounded by mountains from 3,000 to 4,000 feet 
high. Hot and cold, quiet and boiling springs are found within 
a few feet of each other. 

There are five natural bridges in California. The largest is 
on a small creek emptying into the Hay Fork of Trinity River. 
It is eighty feet long, with its top 170 feet above the water. 
In Siskiyou County there are two, about thirty feet apart, 
ninety feet long; and there are two more on Coyote Creek, in 
Tuolumne County, the larger 285 feet long. 

The most noted caves are the Alabaster Cave in Placer 
County, containing two chambers, the larger 200 feet long by 
100 feet wide; the Bower Cave in Mariposa County, having a 
chamber about 100 feet square, reached by an entrance seventy 
feet long. 

The most recently discovered of the great natural wonders of 


the State is the petrified forest, about seventy-five miles north 
of San Francisco, the existence of which was first made public 
in 1870. 

TIMBER FORESTS. 

California is noted for its large forests of excellent timber, 
and for trees of mammoth size. The sides of the Sierra Nevada, 
to the height of 2,500 feet, are covered with oaks, manzanita and 
nut pine and above this, to a height of 8,000 feet, with dense for¬ 
ests of pine, fir, cypress, hemlock, and other coniferous trees. 

Dense forests of redwood exist on the coast north of latitude 
thirty-seven degrees, chiefly in Humboldt County. This tim¬ 
ber is used for fence posts, railroad ties, and furnishes lumber 
for all building purposes. It answers the same for house mate¬ 
rial in California as Wisconsin and Michigan pine does in the 
Mississippi Valley. There is a large amount of timber of the 
various species named in the mountains and valleys in the 
northern part of the State, from the Sierra Nevada Range to 
the ocean. 

The redwood, bearing a strong resemblance to the mammoth, 
frequently grows to a height of 300 feet, and a diameter of fif¬ 
teen feet. These forests are fully described in the local history 
of the County. 

White and live oak abound in large quantities on the west 
slope of the Coast Range, and in the intervening valleys south 
of latitude 37°, in the counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo, 
and Santa Barbara. This wood is chiefly used for fuel and is 
of little value for building or fencing purposes. 

A great part of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, the 
Colorado Basin, the east slope of the Coast Mountains, and the 
Coast Range south of Point Conception, are treeless. 

The sugar pine is a large tree, and one of the most graceful 
of evergreens. It grows about 200 feet high and twelve feet in 
diameter. This wood grows in the Sierra Nevada, is free-split¬ 
ting and valuable for timber. The yellow pine and white cedar 
are all large trees, growing more than 200 feet high and six or 
eight feet in diameter. 

The story is told of two men who were engaged in the cut¬ 
ting of one of these immense trees into logs, with a cross-cut 
saw. After they had sawed themselves out of sight of each 
other, one of them became impressed with the belief that the 
saw was not running as easily as it ought, when he crawled on 
top of the tree to remonstrate with his partner, whom he dis¬ 
covered to be fast asleep. 

The visitor to California has not seen it all until he has spent 
a week in the deep recesses of a redwood forest. It is then, 
standing beside the towering monarch of the forest, that a man 
will realize his utter insignificance, and how inestimably ephem¬ 
eral he is compared with many other of God’s handiworks. He 
looks upon a tree that stood when Christ was yet in his 3 ’outh, 
the circles of whose growth but mark the cycles of time almost 
since the first man was, and on whose tablets might have been 
written the records of the mighty men of old. 














80 


CENSUS OF THE STATE BY COUNTIES. 


POPULATION AND ITS INCREASE. 

In 1831, the entire population of the State was estimated at 
23,025, of whom 18,683 were Indian converts. During the 
years 18-13, ’44, ’45 and ’46 a great many emigrants from the 
United Stated settled in California. In January, 1847, the 
white population was estimated at from 12,000 to 15,000. Its 
population in 1850 was probably 150.000. The population of 
the State in 1880 was 858,864. There are, on the average, six 
inhabitants to the square mile, but the distribution of the settle¬ 
ment over the State is unequal. Thus, San Francisco has about 
8,000 people to the square mile, while those portions of San 
Diego and San Bernardino Counties in the Colorado Desert and 
inclosed basin, with an area of 14,000 square miles, have at 
least seven square miles to each white inhabitant. The coun¬ 
ties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, 
San Joaquin, Sacramento, Yolo, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and 
Marin, fronting on San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisim Bays, 
and the deltas of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, all 
within thirty miles of Mount Diablo, and distinctly visible from 
its summit, have 580,800 inhabitants, or about fifty-eight to 
the mile, leaving a little more than two to the square mile for 
the remainder of the State. 

TABLE OF VOTES CAST BY CALIFORNIA AT ALL THE 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. 


Date. 

Name ok Candidates. 

No. ok Votes. 

Majority. 

1852 

Scott and Graham. 

35,407 



Pierce and King. 

40,626 

5,219 

i ( 

Hale and Julian. 

100 



Total. 

76,133 


1856 

Fremont and Dayton. 

20 691 


<< 

Buchanan and Breckinridge.... 

53,365 

17,200 


Fillmore and Donelson. 

36,165 



Total. 

110,221 


I860 

Lincoln and Hamlin. 

38,734 

711 

( i 

Breckenridge and Lane. 

38,023 



Douglass and Johnson. 

33,975 


4 ( 

Bell and Everett. 

9,136 



Total. 

119,868 


1864 

Lincoln and Johnson. 

62,134 

13,273 

t ( 

McClellan and Pendleton. 

48,841 



Total. 

110,975 


1S68 

Grant and Colfax. 

54,583 

506 

<« 

Seymour and Blair. 

54,077 



Total. 

108,660 


1872 

Grant and Wilson. 

54,020 

3,302 

4 4 

Greeley and Brown. 

40,718 



Total. 

94,738 


1876 

Hayes and Wheeler. 

79,308 

2,842 

4 4 

Tilden and Hendricks. 

76,466 



Cooper. 

47 



Total. 

155,821 


1880 

Garfield and Arthur. 

80,267 


4 4 

Hancock and English. 

80,332 

65 


Weaver. 

3,381 



Total. 

163,980 



For 1880, it is the average vote on elections. One Republican elector was elected and fiv< 
of the Democratic electors, and the vote was cast accordingly. 


Census of the State by Counties* 

SINCE ITS ORGANIZATION. 


COUNTIES 

1850. 

1860. 

1870. 

1880. 

Increas3 

n 

ten y jars. 

1 

Alameda.. 


8,927 

24,237 

63,639 

39,402 

2 

Alpine(7r)_____ 


685 

539 

dec 146 

3 

Amador. 


10.930 

9,582 

11,386 

1,804 

4 

Butte ... 

3,574 

12.106 

11,403 

18,721 

7,308 

5 

Calaveras. 

16,884 

16,299 

8,895 

8,980 

85 

6 

Colusa. 

115 

2,274 

6,165 

13,118 

6,953 

7 

Contra Costa_ 


5,328 

8,461 

12,525 

4,044 

8 

Del Norte. 


1,993 

2.022 

2.499 

628 

9 

El Dorado.. 

20,057 

20,562 

10.309 

10.647 

338 

10 

Fresno__ 


4,605 

6,336 

9.478 

3,142 

11 

Humboldt._ 


2,694 

6,140 

15,515 

9,375 

12 

Inyo(6). 



1,956 

2,928 

477 

13 

Kern (A). 



2,925 

5,600 

2,675 

14 

Klamath(i)_- 


1,803 

1,686 



15 

Lake(c) ... 


2.969 

. 

6,643 

3,674 

16 

Lassen (<■/). 



1.327 

3,341 

2,014 

17 

Los Angelos __ 

3,530 

11.333 

15,309 

33,392 

18*083 

18 

Marin. 

323 

3,334 

6,903 

11,326 

4,423 

19 

Mariposa.. 

4,379 

6,243 

4,572 

4,399 

dee. 173 

20 

Mendocino(e)_ 

55 

3,967 

7,545 

11,000 

3,455 

21 

Merced ... 


1,141 

2.807 

5,657 

2,850 

99 

Mono ( /’). 


430 

5.416 

5,013 

23 

Monterey .. 

1,872 

4,739 

9,876 

11,309 

L433 

24 

Modoc (J). 




4.700 

4.700 

25 

Napa (c). 

405 

5,521 

7,163 

12,894 

5,713 

26 

N evada 


16,446 

19,134 

20 534 

1 400 

27 

Placer._ 


13.270 

11,357 

14,278 

2,921 

28 

Plumas ((/). 


4,363 

4.489 

6.881 

2,392 

29 

Sacramento. 

9,0S7 

24'142 

26,830 

36.200 

9*370 

30 

San Benito (£)_ 




5.584 

5,584 

31 

San Bernardino.. 


5,551 

3,988 

7,800 

3,812 

32 

San Diego_ 


4,324 

4,951 

S.620 

3,669 

33 

San Francisco ( g ) 


56,802 

149,473 

233'956 

84*483 

34 

San Joaquin (7a). . 

3,647 

9,435 

21,050 

24,323 

3,273 

35 

San Luis Obispo.. 

336 

1,782 

4,772 

8,142 

3,370 

36 

San Mateo (f/)_ 


3,214 

6.635 

8,717 

2,082 

37 

Santa Barbara_ 

1,185 

3,543 

7,784 

9*478 

1,694 

38 

Santa Clara_ 


11,912 

26.246 

35,113 

8,864 

39 

Santa Cruz. 

643 

4,944 

8,743 

12,808 

4,605 

40 

Shasta (7) ... 

378 

4,360 

4,173 

9,700 

5,527 

41 

Sierra 


11,387 

5 619 

6 617 

998 

42 

Siskiyou. 


7,629 

6,648 

8,401 

1,553 

43 

Solano. 

580 

7,169 

16,871 

1 SI 7 5 

1,604 

44 

Sonoma__ 

560 

11.867 

19,819 

25,925 

6.106 

45 

Stanislaus (/a) .... 

. 

2,245 

6,499 

8,951 

2,452 

40 

Sutter... 

3,444 

3,390 

5,030 

5.212 

182 

47 

Tehama.. 


4.044 

3.587 

9,414 

5.827 

48 

Trinity. 

1,635 

5,125 

3,213 

4,982 

1,769 

49 

Tulare. 


4.638 

4.533 

11.281 

6,748 

50 

Tuolumne (/a)_ 

8,351 

16,229 

8,150 

7.843 

dec 307 

51 

Ventura (j) _•_ 




5,088 

5,088 

52 

Yolo .. 

1,086 

4,716 

9,899 

11,880 

1,981 

53 

Yuba... 

9.673 

13,668 

10,851 

11,540 

689 

H 

The State. 

92,597 

379.994 

560,247 

864,686 

304.439 

o 

White. 

91,635 

323,177 

499,424 

767.266 

267.842 


Colored ... 

962 

4,086 

4,272 

6,265 

1.993 

• 

Chinese. 


34,933 

49,310 

75 025 

25.715 

Cl 

IO 

Indians.... 


17^908 

7,241 

16,130 

8,889 


The returns of 1850 for Contra Costa and Santa Clara wer. lost on th« way to the Census 
Office, and those for San Francisco were destroyed by fire. The corrected State census of 1852 
g ves 111 p population of these three counties as follows : Contra Costa, 2,780; San From i co, 
36.154; ami Santa Clara, 6,764; and (fives the total population of the State (save El Dorado, not 
returned) 215,122. El Dorado was estimated at 40,000, which would make the total population 
at that date 255,122. ( Vide Doc. No. 14. Appendix to Seriate Journal, 4th session Legislature.) 

(a) In 1863 Alpine from Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, and Mono. 

(b) In 1865 organized. (c) In 1801 Lake from Napa. 

(d) In 1863 Lassen from Plumas and Shasta, (e) In 1860 organized. 

(/) In 1863 organized. (j) In 1857 San Mateo from San Francisco. 

(Ai In 1854 Stanislaus from San Joaquin and Tuolumne. 

(i) Divided and attached to oth r counties. (j) Organized 1S73. 

(k) Organized in 1S72 from Monterey. 

•The census of 1880 gives males, 518,271; females, 346 415; native, 572,0(6; foreign, 
■02,6S0. 













































































































































































H ISTORY 


-OF 


TULARE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, 

FROM THE EARLY DAYS DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME. 


7 i 

HEN the State was first formed into coun¬ 
ties, the whole country extending from the 
Tuolumne River on the north to Walker’s 
Pass on the south and fr. m Nevada line on 
the east to the Coast Range on the west, 
was divided into two counties, Mariposa and 
Tulare. From this territory has since been 
formed Maiiposa. Mono, Inyo, Merced, Fresno, Tulare, and 
Kern. 

This portion of the San Joaquin Valley, until about the year 
1835, was almost a terra incognita , having been visited by the 
trappers only, as already stated. At about that time an ex¬ 
pedition into this part of the valley was undertaken by Lieu¬ 
tenant Moraga, of the Mexican army, then stationed at the 
presidio of San Francisco, who, in command of a company of 
soldiers, pursued some Indians who had been committing dep¬ 
redations upon the settlers in the coast valleys, into the valley 
of the San Joaquin. 

This expedition was undertaken in June. Lieutenant 
Moraga and his companions crossed the San Joaquin near the 
mouth of the Tuolumne River, and traveled thence in a south¬ 
easterly direction to the Merced River, a distance of about 
forty miles, the whole of which had to be accomplished with¬ 
out water. The weather being very hot, it ; s no wonder they 
called the river, in whose limpid waters they slaked their 
burning thirst and laved their throbbing temples, Ei Rio de 
la Merced, the river of mercy. 

They continued the journey, naming rivers and streams, until 
after visiting King’s River the expedition returned over the 
mountains to the west. 

FIRST AMERICANS IN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY. 

The first Americans who arrived in California, overland, ac¬ 
cording to an article in the Pioneer, were under the command 


of Jedediah Smith, of New York. He accompanied the first 
trapping and trading expedition sent from St. Louis to the 
head-waters of the Missouri by General Ashley, an account of 
which is given on a preceding page. 

In the spring of 1826, Mr. Smith, at the head of a party 
of about twenty-five men, left the winter quarters of the com¬ 
pany to make a spring and fall hunt. He crossed the mount¬ 
ains and descended into the great valley of California near its 
southeastern exti'emity; thus being not only the first Ameri¬ 
can, but the first person who, from the east, or north, had en¬ 
tered the magnificent valleys of the San Joaquin and Sac¬ 
ramento, or who had ever seen or explored any of the i-ivers 
falling into the bay of San Francisco. 

FIRST HUNTERS ON TULARE LAKE. 

The fur traders doubtless trapped the beaver on the San 
Joaquin River and its tributaries many years ago, that valua¬ 
ble fur-bearing animal being abundant at the time. We have 
it from old settlers that these hunters were trapping in Califor¬ 
nia when the country was first explored by the missionary 
fathers. As stated on page 39, Stephen Hall Meek spent the 
winter of 1833 hunting about Tulare Lake. 

The trappers were extremely reticent with reference to the 
countries in which they followed their vocation. They gave 
no information that would lead to the settlement of their 
trapping grounds. They were jealous of those who were seek¬ 
ing information with respect to new countries suitable for agri¬ 
culture and stock-raising, and, generally, entertained a supreme 
contempt for them. It is, then, not a matter of surprise that 
the first settlers could get from the trappers neither a writ¬ 
ten nor a verbal description of the San Joaquin River, its trib¬ 
utaries, or the valley through which they flow. Had the 
missionary fathers known the extent and resources of the val¬ 
ley, the vast area of grazing lands, affording the finest quality 








82 


FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS ARRIVE. 


of pasturage, the extensive tracts of agricultural lands which 
have since become so valuable, the} 7 or their companions would 
have secured the greater portion of it as grants from the Mex¬ 
ican Government, as they did the greater portion of the coast 
valleys of California. 

FIRST SETTLERS KEPT NEAR THE COAST. 

The settlers on the coast and in the San Jose Valley seldom 
or never ventured east of the summit of the Monte Diablo 
Range of mountains. In very dry seasons, when grass became 
scarce, and when thousands of cattle and horses were likely to 
perish for lack of food, the rancheros would drive some of their 
cattle and horses to the top of the Monte Diablo Range and 
turn them loose; but they never followed them up or gave any 
further attention to them; hence the large number of wild 
stock found roaming over the plains at the time the immigra¬ 
tion of Americans to this State began. 

The reason the stock was never sought after seems to have 
been the fear of Indians, a popular belief having obtained 
among the settlers of the San Jose, Sonoma, and other coast 
valleys, that there existed a powerful and warlike tribe of 
Indians in the San Joaquin Valley. 

FIRST PERMANENT SETTLERS. 

Capt. C. M. Weber, the founder of Stockton, was one of the 
first to locate permanently in the valley, although he had been 
preceded by Dr. John Marsh, whose occupation and settle¬ 
ment is described on page 43. 

Weber was induced to come by the glowing accounts given 
by Dr. Marsh in his published letters heretofore noticed. This 
was in 1841, before the trip (to be mentioned) of Fremont. 

In August, 1844, David Kelsey, with his wife and two chil¬ 
dren, a boy and a girl, settled at French Camp and built a tule 
house. Mr. Gulnac, who was stopping at the Cosumnes River, 
had offered to give Mr. Kelsey a mile square of land if he 
would stop at that place, and live one year; he turned over to 
him the “swivel” that Sutter had given him. Every night 
Mr. Kelsey threw this piece of ordnance “into battery,” and 
fired an evening gun, which he did to frighten the Indians, on 
the same principle that a boy sometimes whistles as he is going 
through the woods after dark. At that time there was only 
one other house in the county, also constructed of tule, occu¬ 
pied by Thomas Lindsay, at Stockton. 

Mr. Kelsey remained for several months at that place, and 
after his family had been obliged to live for two months on 
boiled wheat, meat, milk, and mint tea, gathered along the 
bank of the creek, he buried the swivel and removed tempo¬ 
rarily to San Jose, vrhere he first saw Captain Weber. 

Numerous others began to locate in the next few years. The 
discovery of gold in 1848 brought a grand rush of people into 
the valley on their way to the mines. No one had the slight¬ 
est idea of the San Joaquin Valley ever being, as it now is, a 
pre-eminently agricultural country. The rolling prairie3 and 


grassy meadows were overrun with cattle and stock—thou¬ 
sands of head. No idea of any other industry but grazing 
was then thought of in the vast valley, except in a limited way 
along the rivers by a few who were believers in its agricultural 
resources. 

FREMONT VISITS THE VALLEY. 

General Fremont’s expedition in April, 1844, having as 
guides Kit Carson and Alexis Godey, who still lives at Bakers¬ 
field and whose Tesidence makes one of our best illustrations, 
passed up the San Joaquin River, which he describes after 
passing the mouth of the Merced, as follows:— 

“On the prairie bordering the San Joaquin bottoms, there 
occurred during the day but little grass, and in its place was a 
sparse and dwarf growth of plants; the soil being sandy, with 
small bare places and hillocks, reminded me much of the 
Platte bottoms; but, on approaching the timber, we found more 
luxuriant vegetation, and at our camp was an abundance of 
grass and pea-vines. 

“The foliage of the oak is getting darker; and everything, 
except that the weather is a little cool, shows that spring is 
rapidly advancing; and to-day we had quite a summer rain. 
It commenced to rain at daylight, but cleared off brightly 
at sunrise. We ferried the river without any difficulty and 
continued up the San Joaquin. Elk were running in bands 
over the prairie and in the skirts of the timber. We reached 
the river at the mouth of a large slough, which we were un¬ 
able to ford, and made a circuit of several miles around. Here 
the country appears very fiat; oak trees have entirely disap¬ 
peared, and are replaced by a large willow, nearly equal to it 
in size. The river is about a hundred yards in breadth, 
branching into sloughs and interspersed with islands. At this 
time it appears sufficiently deep for a small steamer, but its 
navigation would be broken by shallows at low 7 water. Bear¬ 
ing in toward the river, we were again forced off by another 
slough; and, passing around, steered toward a clump of ti'ees on 
the river, and, finding there good grass, encamped. The prairies 
along the left bank are alive with immense droves of wild 
horses; and they had been seen during the day at every opening 
through the woods which afforded us a view across the river. 
Latitude, by observation, 37° 08'; longitude, 120° 45' 22". 

FREMONT DESCRIBES THE TULE LAKES. 

“April 5th.—During the early part of the day’s ride, the 
country presented a lacustrine appearance; the river was deep, 
and nearly on a level with the surrounding country; its banks 
raised like a levee, and fringed with willows. Over the border¬ 
ing plain were interspersed spots of prairie among fields of tule 
(bullrushes), which in this country are called tulares, and little 
ponds. On the opposite side a line of timber was visible, which, 
according to information, points out the course of the slough, 
which at times of high water connects with San Joaquin 
River a large body of water in the upper part of the valley, 









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-ferns. 


'I1UH1II! 


U-DL-IJlLHil 


A t : 






ELUOTT LITH ^£)MONT. S.T 


RES. OF L. A. PRATT. COR. TULARE 8? H STS- TULARE CITY, CAL 


pMR 




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ELLIOTT.UTH.WI MONT.ST 

HOME OF J, E. DENNY, COR. OAK ^ CHURCH STS, VISALIA, TULARE CO. CALIFORNIA 



























































































































































































































































































































































































































GENERAL FREMONT EXPLORES THE VALLEY. 


83 


called the Tule Lakes. The river and all its sloughs are verv 
full, and it is probable that the lake is now discharging. H<re 
elk were frequently started, and one was shot out of a band 
which run around us. On our left, the Sierra maintains its 
snowy height and masses of snow appear to descend very low 
toward the plains; probably the late rains in the valley were 
snow on the mountains. We traveled thirty-seven miles and 
encamped on the river. Longitude of the camp, 120° 28' 34", 
and latitude 36° 49' 12". 

“6th.—After having traveled fifteen miles along the river, 
we made an early halt, under the shade of sycamore trees. 
Here we found the San Joaquin coming down from the Sierra 
with a westerly course, and checking our way as all its trib¬ 
utaries had previously done. 

DROVES OF WILD HORSES. 

“ We had expected to raft the river, but found a good ford, 
and encamped on the opposite bank, where droves of wild 
horses were raising clouds of dust on the prairie. Columns of 
smoke were visible in the direction of the Tule Lakes to the 
southward—probably kindled in the tulares by the Indians as 
signals that there were strangers in the valley. 

“ April 7th.—We had a hard march in a cold, chilly rain, the 
weather so thick we traveled - by compass. We saw wolves 
frequently during the day prowling about after the young 
antelope, which cannot run very fast. Antelope were numer¬ 
ous and many were caught by our people. Late in the after¬ 
noon we discovered timber, which was found to be groves of 
oak trees on a dry arroyo. The rain, which had fallen in fre - 
quent showers, poured down in a storm at sunset, with a strong 
wind, which swept off* the clouds, and left a clear sky. Riding 
on through the timber, about dark we found abundant water in 
small ponds, twenty to thirty yards in diameter, with char deep 
water and sandy beds bordered with bog rushes ( juncus effu- 
sus ), and a tall rush ( scirpus lacustris ) twelve feet high, and 
surrounded near the margin with willow trees in bloom; among 
them one which resembled salix viyricoides. The oak of the 
groves was the same already mentioned, with small leaves, in 
form like those of the white oak, and forming, with the ever¬ 
green oak, the characteristic trees of the valley. 

king’s river named. 

“8th—After a ride of two miles through brush and open 
groves, we reached a large stream, called the River of the 
Lake (King’s River), resembling in size the San Joaquin, and 
being about 100 yards broad. This is the principle tributary 
to the Tule Lakes, which collects all the water in the upper 
part of the valley. 

INDIANS OF TULARE VALLEY. 

“ While we were searching for a ford, some Indians appeared 
on the opposite bank, and having discovered that we were not 
Spanish soldiers, showed us the way to a good ford several 
miles above. 


“ The Indians of the Sierra make frequent descents upon the 
settlements west of the Coast Range, which they keep con¬ 
stantly swept of horses; among them are many who are called 
Christian Indians, being refugees from Spanish missions. Sev¬ 
eral of these incursions occurred while we were at Helvetia. 
Occasionally parties of soldiers follow them across the Coast 
Range, but never enter the Sierra. 

“ On the opposite side we found some forty or fifty Indians, 
who had come to meet us from the village below. We made 
them some small presents, and invited them to our encamp¬ 
ment, which, after about three miles through fine oak groves, 
we made on the river. We made a fort, principally on ac¬ 
count of our animals. The Indians brought otter-skins, and 
several kinds of fish, and bread made of acorns to trade. 
Among them were several who had come to live among these 
Indians when the missions were broken up, and who spoke 
Spanish fluently. They informed us that they were called by 
the Spaniai’ds mansitos (tame), in distinction from the wilder 
tribes of the mountains. They, however, think themselves 
very insecure, not knowing at what unforeseen moment the sins 
of the latter may be visited upon them. They are dark- 
skinned, but handsome and intelligent Indians, and live princi¬ 
pally on acorns and the roots of the tule, of which also their 
huts are made. 

“ By observation, the latitude'of the encampment is 36° 24' 
50", and longitude 119° 4T 40". 

“9th.—For several miles we had very bad traveling over 
what is called rotten ground, in which the horses were fre¬ 
quently up to their knees. Making toward a line of timber 
we found a small fordable stream, beyond which the country 
improved, and the grass became excellent; and crossing a num¬ 
ber of dry and timbered arroyos, we traveled until late 
through open oak groves, and encamped among a collection of 
streams. These were running among rushes and willows; 
and, as usual, flocks of blackbirds announced our approach to 
water. We have here approached considerably nearer to the 
eastern Sierra, which shows very plainly, still covered with 
masses of snow, which yesterday and to-day has also appeared 
abundant on the Coast Range. 

“ 10th—To-day we made another long journey of about forty 
miles, through a country uninteresting and flat, with very 
little grass and a sandy soil, in which several branches we 
crossed had lost their water. In the evening the face of the 
country became hilly; and, turning a few miles up toward the 
mountains, we found a good encampment on a pretty stream 
hidden among the hills, and handsomely timbered, principally 
with large cottonwoods ( populus , differing from any in 
Michaux’s Sylva). The seed-vessels of this tree were now 
just about bursting. 

“ Several Indians came down the river to see us in the even¬ 
ing; we gave them supper, and cautioned them against steal¬ 
ing our horses, which they promised not to attempt. 







84 


GENERAL FREMONT’S TRIP THROUGH THE VALLEY. 


THE FOOT-HILL PASS. 

“ 11th—A broad trail along the river here takes out among 
the hills. Buen carnino (good road), said one of the Indi¬ 
ans, of whom we had inquired about the pass; and, follow¬ 
ing it accordingly, it conducted us beautifully through a very 
broken country, by an excellent wav, which, otherwise, we 
should have found extremely bad. Taking separately, the hills 
present smooth and graceful outlines, but, together, make bad 
traveling ground. Instead of grass, the whole face of the 
country is closely covered with erodium cicutarium, here only 
two or three inches high. Its height and beauty varied in a 
remarkable manner with the locality, being, in many low 
places which we passed during the day, around streams and 
springs, two and three feet high. The country had now as¬ 
sumed a character of aridity, and the luxuriant green of these 
little streams, wooded with willow, oak, or sycamore, looked 
very refreshing among the sandy hills. 

“ In the evening we encamped by a large creek, with abun¬ 
dant water. I noticed here in bloom, for the first time since 
leaving the Arkansas waters, the Miribilis Jalapa. 

“12th—Along our road to-day the country was altogether 
sandy and vegetation meager. Ephedra occidentalis, which 
we had first seen in the neighborhood of the Pyramid Lake, 
made its appearance here, and in the course of the day became 
very abundant and in large bushes. Toward the close of the 
afternoon, we reached a tolerably large river, which empties 
into a small lake at the head of the valley; it is about thirty- 
five yards wide, with a stony and gravelly bed, and the swift¬ 
est stream we have crossed since leaving the bay. The bot¬ 
toms produced no grass, though well timbered with willow 
and cottonwood; and, after ascending several miles, we made 
a late encampment on a little bottom, with scanty grass. In 
greater part, the vegetation along our road consisted now of 
rare and unusual plants, among which many were entirely 
new. 

“Along the bottoms were thickets consisting of several varie¬ 
ties of shrubs, which made here their first appearance; and 
among these was Garrya eUiptica (Lindley), a small tree be¬ 
longing to a very peculiar natural order, and. in its general 
appearance (growing in thickets), resembling willow. It now 
became common along the streams, frequently supplying the 
place of salix longifolia. 

“ 13th—The water was low, and a few miles above we forded 
the river at a rapid, and marched in a southeasterly direction 
over a less broken country. The mountains were now very near, 
occasionally looming out through fog. In a few hours we 
reached the bottom of a creek without water, over which the 
sandy beds were dispersed in many branches. Immediately 
where we struck it, the timber terminated; and below, to the 
right, it was a broad bed of dry and bare sands. There were 
many tracks of Indians and horses imprinted in the sand, 


which, with other indications, informed us was the creek issu¬ 
ing from the pass, and which we have called Pass Creek. We 
ascended a trail for a few miles along the creek, and suddenly 
found a stream of water five feet wide, running with a lively 
current, but losing itself almost immediately. This little 
stream showed plainly the manner in which the mountain 
waters lose themselves in sand at the eastern foot of the Sierra, 
leaving only a parched desert and arid plains beyond. The 
stream enlarged rapidly, and the timber became abundant as 
we ascended. 

“ A new species of pine made its appearance, with several 
kinds of oaks, and a variety of trees; and the country chang¬ 
ing its appearance suddenly and entirely, we found ourselves 
again traveling among the old orchard-like places. Here we 
selected a delightful encampment in a handsome green oak 
hollow, where among the open bolls of the trees was an abun¬ 
dant sward of grass and pea-vines. 

UNEXPECTED MEETING. 

“ In the evening a Christian Indian rode into the camp, w> 11 
dressed, with long spurs, and a sombrero, and speaking Spanish 
fluently. It was an unexpected apparition, and a strange and 
pleasant sight in this desolate gorge of a mountain—an Indian 
face, Spanish costume, jingling spurs, and horse equipped 
after the Spanish manner. He intormed me that he belonged 
to one of the Spanish missions to the south, distant two or 
three days’ ride, and that he had obtained from the priests 
leave to spend a few days with his relations in the Sierra. 
Having seen us enter the pass, he had come down to visit us. 
He appeared familiarly acquainted with the country, and gave 
me definite and clear information in regard to the desert region 
east of the mountains. 

FREMONT ENTERS THE PASS. 

“ I had entered the pass with a strong disposition to vary my 
route, and to travel directly across toward the Great Salt Lake, 
in the view of obtaining some acquaintance with the interior 
of the Great Basin, while pursuing a direct course for the 
frontier; but his representation, which described it as an arid 
and barren desert, that had repulsed by its sterility all the 
attempts of the Indians to penetrate it, determined me for the 
present to relinquish the plan, and, agreeable to his advice, 
after crossing the Sierra, continued our intended route along 
its eastern base to the Spanish trail. By this route, a party 
of six Indians, who had come from a great river in the eastern 
part of the desert to trade with his people, had just started on 
their return. He would himself return the next day to San 
Fernando and as our roads would be the same for two davs, 
he offered his services to conduct us so far on our way. His 
offer was gladly accepted. The fog, which had somewhat inter¬ 
fered with views in the valley, had entirely passed off and 
left a clear sky. That winch had enveloped us in the neigh¬ 
borhood of the pass proceeded evidently from fires kindled 











THE GREAT INTERIOR BASIN DESCRIBED. 


85 


among the tulares by Indians living near the lakes, and which 
were intended to warn those in the mountains that there were 
strangers in the valley. Our position was in latitude 35° 17' 
12", and longitude 118° 35' 03". 

“ 14th—Our guide joined us this morning on the trail; and* 
arriving in a short distance at an open bottom where the creek 
forked, we continued up the right-hand branch, which was 
enriched by a profusion of flowers, and handsomely wooded 
with sycamore, oaks, cottonwood, and willow, with other trees, 
and some shrubby plants. In its long strings of balls, this 
sycamore differs from that of the United States, and is the 
platanus occidentalus of Hooker—a new species recently de¬ 
scribed among the plants collected in the voyage of the Sul¬ 
phur. The cottonwood varied its foliage with white tufts, and 
the feathery seeds were flying plentifully through the air. 
Gooseberries, nearly ripe, were very abundant in the mount¬ 
ains; and as we passed the dividing grounds, which were 
not very easy to ascertain, the air was filled with perfume, as 
if we were entering a highly cultivated gard n; and, instead 
of green, our pathway and the mountain-sides were covered 
with fields of yellow flowers, which here was the prevailing 
color. 

A SCENE OF BEAUTY. 

Our journey to-day was in the midst of an advanced 
spring, whose green and floral beauty offered a delightful con¬ 
trast to the sandy valley we had just left. All the day, snow 
was in sight on the butte of the mountain, which frowned 
down upon us on the right; but we beheld it now with feelings 
of pleasant security, as we rode along between green trees, and 
on flowers, with humming-birds and other feathered friends of 
the traveler enlivening the serene spring air. As we reached 
the summit of this beautiful pass, and obtained a view into 
the eastern country, we saw at once that here was the place to 
take leave of all such pleasant scenes as those around us. The 
distant mountains were now bald rocks again, and below the 
land had any color but green. Taking into consideration the 
nature of the Sierra Nevada, we found this pass an excellent 
one for horses; and, with a little labor, or perhaps with a more 
perfect examination of the localities, it might be made suffi¬ 
ciently practicable for wagons. Its latitude and longitude may 
be considered that of our last encampment, only a few miles 
distant. The elevation was not taken—our half-wild caval¬ 
cade making it troublesome to halt before night, when once 
started. 

fremont’s cavalcade described. 

“ Our cavalcade made a strange and grotesque appearance; 
and it was impossible to avoid reflecting upon our position and 
composition in this remote solitude. Within two degrees of 
the Pacific Ocean—already far south of the latitude of Monte¬ 
rey—and still forced on south by a desert on one hand, and a 
mountain range on the other, guided by a civilized Indian, 


attended by two wild ones from the Sierra, a Chinook from 
the Columbia, and our mixture of American, French, German, 
all armed, four or five languages heard at once, about a hun¬ 
dred horses and mules, half wild, American, Spanish, and In¬ 
dian dresses and equipments intermingled,such was our composi¬ 
tion. Our march was a sort of procession. Scouts ahead and 
on the flanks; a front and rear division; the pack-animals, 
baggage, and horned cattle in the centre; and the whole 
stretching a quarter of a mile along our dreary path. In this 
form we journeyed, looking more as if we belonged to Asia 
than to the United States of America.” 


The Great Interior Basin. 

“ That portion of the great interior basin of California 
which has received the designation of ihe Tulare Valley, in¬ 
cluding Fresno, Tulare, and Kern Vaileys, lies between the 
Sierra Nevada and Coast Range Mountains, which come 
together as the Tejon and Tehachepi Mountains, about the 
thirty-fifth degree of north latitude, from its southernmost 
limit. The general direction of this valley is nearly parallel 
with the trend of the coast, northwest and southeast, from 
which its central axis is from 75 to 100 miles distant. 
Its greatest length is 260 miles, and in width it varies from 
30 to 70 miles. Its total area is 11,290 square miles.” 
the plains and basins. 

The valley consists of two plains of unequal width, extend¬ 
ing from the foot-hills of the mountains, and meeting in a 
trough, not midway, but considerably west of the center line 
of the great depression. This trough, running from one end 
of the valley to the other, has a general inclination in a north¬ 
westerly direction toward the outlet for all drainage waters 
of the great basin, Suisun Bay. Its slope is not uniform, but 
flattens out at intervals where lakes and marshes exist, as the 
streams flowing in on either side have banked up the silt and 
detritus, washed from the mountains at special points for ages 
past. In this manner, Kern River, sweeping down enormous 
volumes of decomposed granite, has spread out a broad barrier 
across the valley, inclosing a basin above it for the reception 
of the waters forming Kern and Buena Vista Lakes, at the 
southern extremity of the trough; and King’s River, carrying 
its load of sand and silt to the lowest part of the valley, has 
raised a dam across the depression, and completed the shallow 
basin, where now exists Tulare Lake, one of the greatest sheets 
of fresh water in California. 

THE TROUGH OF THE VALLEY. 

It is probable that this trough once held the bed of a con¬ 
tinuous stream from Kern River, extending throughout the 
length of the valley and receiving the tributaries flowing in 






86 


THE VALLEY IN ITS NATIVE STATE. 


on either hand. As it is, the depiession serves as the drainage¬ 
way for all the valley, however impeded may be its course. 
From Kern and Buena Vista Lakes, which occupy the same 
level in the lowest depression of the southern end, and are at 
an elevation of about 293 feet above low tide, it slopes at the 
rate of about two feet per mile for 42 miles to Tulare Lake, 
whose elevation is 198 to 210 feet, acc< rdin^ to the stage of its 
waters. Thence to the mouth of Fresno Slough, at the great 
bend of the San Joaquin, 55 miles from the lake, the slope 
is .86 feet per mile. 

The total fall from this point to the mouth of the San 
Joaquin River, a distance of 120 miles, is 165 feet. 

UNFAILING WATER SUPPLY. 

The lofty mountains in which the perennial streams rise, store 
away the precipitation of the annual rainy season in the form 
of snow which melts slowly throughout the summer, and never 
wholly disappears, giving down a steady and unfailing supply, 
its greatest volumes gauged to that season when most re¬ 
quired for watering the thirsty plains below, namely in the late 
spring and early summer months. The others are intermittent 
in flow, and not sufficient for purposes of irrigation. 

The streams on the western side, discharging from the 
Coast Range, are all of the most intermittent character. The 
mountain-sides are steep and almost devoid of forests, which 
might hold back the watei’s of precipitation. The land is con¬ 
sequently rapidly drained, and the streams are in flood for but 
a short period after each rain. They descend upon the plains 
in channels, which in most instances are lost before reaching 
the central trough, the waters of many of them spreading at 
will over the high, sloping valley lands adjacent to the mount¬ 
ains, and seldom reach the river. As sources of supply for 
irrigation they are therefore unreliable, and at best available 
for but a limited area in the vicinity of their several points of 
entrance upon the valley. 

ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF SAN JOAQUIN. 

From the report of Gen. M. G. Vallejo to the State Senate, 
in 1852, on the “Origin of the Names of Counties in this State.” 
we find the following:— 

“San Joaquin. —The meaning of this name has a very 
ancient origin in reference to the parentage of Mary, the 
mother of Christ. According to divine revelations, Joachim 
signifies ‘ preparation of the Lord,’ and hence the belief that 
Joaquin, who in the course of time was admitted into the pale of 
sanctity, was the father of Mary. In 1813, commanding an 
exploring expedition to the valley of the rushes (valles de 
los tulares), Lieut. Gabriel Moraga gave the appellation of 
San Joaquin to a rivulet that springs from the Sierra Nevada, 
and empties into Lake Buena Vista. The river San Joaquin 
derives its name from the rivulet, and baptizes the county with 
the same.” 


THE VALLEY IN ITS NATIVE STATE. 

There began to settle in this vast vailey, in 1848-49, that 
intrepid band of pioneers who had scaled the Sierra, or sailed 
“around the Horn.” At length the promised land was gained. 
The valleys were an interminable grain-field, mile upon mile 
and acre after acre, wild oats grew in marvelous profusion, in 
many places to a prodigious height—one great, glorious green 
of wild, waving corn—high over head of the wayfarer on foot, 
and shoulder-high to the equestrian; wild flowers of every 
prismatic shade charmed the eye, while they vied with each 
other in the gorgeousness of their colors, and blended into 
dazzling splendor. One breath of wind, and the wide emerald 
expanse rippled itself into space, while with a heavier breeze 
came a swell whose rollincf waves beat against the mountain- 
sides, and, being hurled back, were lost in the far-away horizon; 
shadow pursued shadow in a long, merry chase. The air was 
filled with the hum of bees, the chirrup of birds, and an over¬ 
powering fragrance from the various plants weighted the air. 
The hill-sides, overrun as the)' were with a dense mass of 
tangled jungle, were hard to penetrate, while in some portions 
the deep, dark gloom of the forest trees lent relief to the eye. 

The almost boundless range was intersected throughout with 
divergent trails, whereby the traveler moved from point to 
point, progress being as it were in darkness on account of the 
height of the oats on either side, and rendered dangerous in 
the valleys by the bands of untamed cattle, sprung from the 
stock introduced by the mission fathers. These found food 
and shelter on the plains during the night; at dawn they re¬ 
paired to the higher grounds to chew the cud and bask in the 
sunshine. At every yard coyotes sprang from beneath the 
feet. The flight of quail and other birds, the nimble run of 
the rabbit, and the stampede of the elk and antelope, which 
abounded in thousands, added to the charm. 

The chief riches of the early California pioneer consisted of 
cattle and mines of gold. Mining was the chief industry, and 
stock-raising received great attention. Over the richest soil 
in the county roamed large herds of cattle, horses, and sheep; 
but in the course of time, as population increased, the country 
watered by the San Joaquin, Kern, and King’s Rivers was 
found to be most fertile and productive. The dwellers of these 
valleys engaged in tilling the soil, and the dwellers of the hilly 
parts of the Coast Range and Sierra Nevada, which are better 
adapted to grazing, became the owners of herds of cattle and 
sheep. 

AN IMMENSE TERRITORY. 

We find by examining Gibbs’ map of California, printed in 
1851, that the north boundary of Mariposa was the 38th 
parallel on the east side of the Sierra, which corresponds 
nearly with the north line of Mono, as now organized, and in¬ 
cluded Mono Lake. The line extended down the Sierra to 
the head-waters of the Tuolumne, and thence followed that 





AN IMMENSE TERRITORY DIVIDED. 


87 


river westerly to the San Joaquin and on to the Coast Range. 
It followed the Coast Range to a point opposite the mouth 
of King’s River, and thence followed King’s River to the 
Sierra and to the Nevada line. 

COUNTY BOUNDARIES. 

At this time Tulare County extended south from the King’s 
River line just mentioned to a point which is now the south¬ 
west corner of Kern County. 

The population of this large territory was, by the census of 
1850, 4,379. Out of this territory was formed Merced County, 
in 1855, with the county seat at the “Ranch of Turner & 
Osborn,” on Mariposa Creek, about eight miles from Merced. 
Lieut. Gov. Samuel Purdy was at that time President of the 
Senate, and W. W. Stow, Speaker of the House. Mari¬ 
posa County was represented in the Senate by Major A. Mc¬ 
Neill, and by E Burke and Thos. Flournoy, in the Assembly. 
In 1856, Fresno County was formed from the territory, and in 
1863 Mono County was organized; Kern and Inyo in 1866. 

The broad plains and beautiful rivers of the section had 
attracted many Mexican rancheros, who with their fatted 
herds enjoyed the greatest freedom; and who exhibited in 
person a royal hospitality toward the wayfarer, often furnish¬ 
ing guides and horses, at the command of a stranger, for many 
days’journey, with the only injunction, “Cuando vuelva no 
dye de venier a verme.” 

Later the mining interest predominated, only for a brief 
period, however, as the husbandman’s plow no sooner turned 
the soil than a bountiful yield gladdened the hearts of the 
many households whose habitations began to deck the plains, 
and in a few years hamlets and villages took the place of 
lowing herds. 

FIRST SETTLERS IN TULARE COUNTY. 

Tulare County reached on the north to King’s River. 
Amongst the foremost settlers at Upper King’s River were Mr. 
Poole, who established the first ferry across that river; Wm, Y. 
Scott, the second Sheriff' of Fresno County, and after whom the 
settlement once known as Scottsburg was named; Wm. W- 
Hill, the Smoot family, the Akers family, P W Fink, John A. 
Patterson, A. M. Darwin, E. C. Ferguson, Wm. Hazleton, C. F. 
Cherry, Wm. C. Caldwell, Jesse Morrow, now proprietor of 
the popular “ Morrow House,” in Fresno, Richard and Wm. 
Glenn, Wm. Deakin, and others. They all engaged in agricult¬ 
ure and the raising of all kinds of stock, and in a few years 
after the first settlers had located there, the settlement became 
the largest in the county, and for a few years held in its hand 
the balance of power, politically; and any candidate for office 
who could secure a fair majority at the King’s River Precinct, 
considered himself sure of his election. 

CHARACTER OF EARLY SETTLERS. 

They were good, old-fashioned people, who cared very little 


for politics, or the outside world; they stayed at home, tilled 
their farms, raised stock, made money, and were contented and 
happy; and while they formed the largest settlement in the 
county, its history is stained with less crime or deeds of violence 
than many smaller communities. Polling a large vote, during 
every canvass that settlement was fairly besieged by importun¬ 
ing candidates. The good people would listen to them all, but 
promise none, but would look for advice to one or two of the 
most prominent men in the settlement, and cast their votes 
accordingly, caring but very little which candidate was elected 
or defeated. 

A few early settlers of King’s River, now Centerville, are 
still left, and residing there and doing well, for instance: Wm. 
Hazleton, C. F. Cherry, P. W. Fink, Wm. Deakin, Wm. Glenn, 
and last but not least, old Gabriel Moore, the darkey, who has 
contributed more toward the fun and amusement of those peo¬ 
ple than any other man in the settlement. 

FIRST FERRY ON KING’S RIVER. 

In about 1854, Whitmore established the first ferry at Lower 
King’s River, at a place where the town of Kingston now 
stands; it was for a long time known as Whitmore’s Ferry. 
Subsequently, Whitmore was killed, and the property passed 
into the hands of O. H. Bliss, who maintained the ferry for 
several years,, but afterwards discontinued the ferry and built a 
substantial bridge across the river. Bliss sold out in 1873 and 
removed to Los Angeles, and all his fine property was sold to 
John Sutherland, Sr. 

FORT MILLER ESTABLISHED. 

In the beginning of April, 1851, a military fort was estab¬ 
lished on the south bank of the San Joaquin, about a mile 
above the town of Millerton. It was called Fort Barbour, in 
honor of one of the commanders. It was soon after changed 
to Millerton. Here the Indian treaty was signed. 

Fort Miller was established under General Miller. The name 
of Rootville, by which the mining camp, situated about a mile 
below the fort was designated, was changed to Millerton, in 
honor of General Miller. At the fort everything went on 
swimmingly; the men were a good lot of boys, and the officers 
were gentlemen. Captain Jordan was quartermaster. He was 
shrewd, cunning, and ci’afty, and always kept his weather-eye 
open for the main chance—in fact, he was for Jordan, first, 
last, and all the time. 

FIRST DAM ON THE SAN JOAQUIN. 

In 1853 Jordan began constructing a dam across the San 
Joaquin River, just opposite the fort, and dug a ditch on the 
south bank of the river, for mining purposes; the remains of 
both dam and ditch can be seen to-day. On this work a great 
number of hands and teams were employed, but the undertak¬ 
ing proved a failure, at least to those who were employed to 
do the work; some lost all their earnings, others one-half, and 
all lost more or less, and no one came out ahead except Jordan. 






88 


TIIE KERN RIVER GOLD EXCITEMENT. 


IMMENSE HAY STACK. 

Bat canning and shrewd as he was, he was check-mated by 
one John Newton. Newton had foresight enough to see that 
a large quantity of hay and grain would be required during 
the coming winter, to feed all the animals kept at the fort. 
Jordan entered into a contract with Newton, agree ng to take 
all tVm hay Newton could furnish, at $50.00 per ton, Jordan to 
haul the hay to the fort himself. Some distance east of Jerry 
Brown’s old place (now Hildreth’s), there stands an immense 
rock; here Newton went to work in the spring, cutting hay, 
and after having cut and cured about ten tons, he covered the 
rock with the hay, and when completed, the pile presented the 
appearance of an immense hay-stack. Newton, Jordan, and 
some of his men, went to measure and inspect the stack, which 
Jordan accepted at fifty tons. They then went back to the 
fort, where Newton obtained his money for fifty tons of hay, 
and decamped. Shortly afterwards, Jordan ordered his team¬ 
sters to haul in that hay; but the first load that was taken off 
the pile laid bare the fraud and a portion of the rock. What 
Jordan said on discovering the swindle cannot be recorded 
here; suffice it to say that he did not pray with great devo¬ 
tion, but perhaps in a humiliated spirit; but there was no 
remedy. 

KERN RIVER GOLD EXCITEMENT. 

Few old settlers can have forgotten the Kern River excite¬ 
ment, which for a time threatened to depopulate the northern 
part of the State. Stages from Marysville and Sacramento 
were crowded day after day, and new lines were established 
from Los Angeles, Stockton, San Jose, and various other 
points; but such was the pressure of travel in search of 
this grand depository, in which it was represented the main 
wealth of the world had been treasured by a beneficent 
Providence, that thousands were compelled to go on foot, and 
carry their blankets and provisions on their backs. From 
Stockton to the mining district, a distance of more than 300 
miles, the plains of the San Joaquin were literally speckled 
with “honest miners.” It is a notable fact that of those who 
went in stages, the majority returned on foot; and of those who 
trusted originally to shoe-leather, many had to walk back on 
their natural soles, or depend on sackcloth or charity. 

The Kern River excitement was one of those periodical visi¬ 
tations of a mild species of insanity, with which the people of 
California seem to have been afflicted from time to time, ever 
since the early days. It originated out of vague reports of 
gold in the gulches of the Kern River country, and in the 
course of a few months all the avenues leading' to the region 
were crowded with adventurers. Miners passed daily on 
their way thither; but it was not long before they began re¬ 
turning, disappointed in their anticipations of sudden wealth, 
and deeply cursing the infatuation which had induced them to 
go so far with so little profit. 


FATE OF A PIONEER OF 1837. 

At the time of the discovery of gold, and for several years 
afterward, very little was known of the Tulare Valley, except 
the western side and the vicinity of the lakes. This part was 
occasionally visited by native Californians from Monterey, San 
Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties for the purpose of 
hunting wild horses which then abounded, but they could give 
very little information in regard to the eastern side or the 
mountains in the vicinity. They represented it as filled with 
hostile Indians and of a forbidding aspect. But it is probable 
it was more familiar to the huntei’s and trappers of the great 
plains and the skirts of the Rocky Mountains who, it is well 
known, often penetrated into California, impelled by the desire 
to look on the Pacific, and the vanity of having it in their 
power to say they had traveled to the extreme western verge 
of the continent. 

A memorial of a visit of a party of these adventurous men 
may still be seen in the pass where the old abandoned military 
post of Foi’t Tejon is situated—one deeply and painfully sug¬ 
gestive of the dangers to which they were subject and the 
tragical fate that often overtook them. On an oak tree, about 
thirty inches in diameter, standing on the verge of the parade 
ground, may be seen, now nearly grown over by the bark, 
through which the letters can still be distinctly traced, the 
following inscription, neatly cut in capital letters, as follows:— 

i H s 
PETER 
LEBECK 
KILLED 
BY 

A + BEAR 

OCT 17 1837 

At the time these words were carved the tree was probably not 
more than half the size it now is, and the man whose fate is 
commemorated was probably buried at its foot. It is an 
object of melancholy interest to visitors to this pleasant resort. 
It is known far and wide as one of the objects to be seen, and is 
generally sought out, pondered over, and commented upon. 
But of the hundreds who have seen it, many of them old 
pioneers and mountain men, not one has been able to throw 
the least light on the terrible tragedy here enacted in this then 
remote and fearful solitude, the mere fact of which is given in 
these, the fewest words possible. 

It was first seen, we believe, bv a citizen of Los Angeles 
County in 1842, five years after the date of the occurrence, 
and twelve years before the first buildings w ere erected for the 
use of the post, and there can be no doubt of its authenticity. 
The locality was always known in early days as a favorite 
resort of grizzly bears, as it abounds both there and in the 
vicinity with the food upon which they principally subsist. 
Although, of late years, their numbers have greatly diminished, 
so has not their ferocity, and they are yet often met with. 







RUSSELL Bl 


T ^ 4 tr S f < J 5 ^ V £ T— 

store of Russell bros. main st. plano cal. established in ibsi 


a/ 1 WM.THOM SON. 


[■/•BOARD i*3 LODGING.M 


Thomson’s boarding-house ,wm. t. Thomson, prop, plano. tulare co. cal 





















































































































































































































* 












THE HISTORY OF A NOTED PIONEER. 


89 


NOTED EARLY SETTLER. 

One of the most noted early settlers of this section was 
James D. Savage,* who, in the year 1850, kept a trading-post 
on the Fresno River, then in Mariposa County, some distance 
above what is at present known as Leach’s old store, and on 
Christmas night of that year, Savage being absent and the 
store being in charge of two clerks and a man named Brown, 
the Indians suddenly revolted; they attacked the store, demol¬ 
ished it and killed the two clerks; Brown, barefooted and in 
his night-clothes was taken up by an Indian named Arosa, 
who carried him in his arms across the Fresno River; once 
safely across, Brown did not stand on the order of his ofoino - 
but went at once, and never halted until he arrived at Mari¬ 
posa. He probably made the best time that was ever made 
by an individual between the Fresno and Mariposa, for his speed 
was accelerated when he heard a dozen or more Indians, who 
had discovered his escape, wdiooping and yelling in full pursuit 
of him. 

. About the second day of January, 1851, one Cassady and 
Lane kept a trading-post a few miles below Millerton, and 
they were engaged in mining above Millerton, at a point yet 
know as Cassady Bar. Here they had some thirty men en¬ 
gaged, and erected a stone fort around their mining camp; 
while their trading-post was surrounded by ditches and en¬ 
trenchments, for protection against the Indians. Cassady was 
one of those foolhardy, swaggering, thoughtless fellows, a very 
Georgia Major, who declared that he did not fear any Indian 
in the world, and apprehended no trouble from them. 

But soon the redskins engaged in a general warfare, open¬ 
ing the ball by killing two teamsters on Fine Gold Gulch and 
driving off their stock, and killing two men just below Mill¬ 
erton. 

On or about the 15th day of January, 1851, Dr. Lewis 
Leach now of Fresno arrived from Four Creeks at Cassady’s 
trading-post, in company with several men, one of whom, 
Frank W. Boden, had received at Four Creeks several arrow 
wounds in his right arm, and upon arriving at Cassady’s it 
was found necessary to amputate the arm, which was accom¬ 
plished by Dr. Leach, who then had to remain with the patient 
several days, and who in eight or ten days was convalescent. 
About the 20th of January, 1851, Cassady and Savage came 
down from the mining camp at Cassady Bar to see how mat¬ 
ters progressed at the trading-post. L T p to this time, the men 
who were left in charge of the trading-post had kept a guai'd 
out every night, taking turns about, and digging ditches and 
entrenchments around the camp, but on this particular night 
Cassady refused to stand guard, saying there was no danger 
to be apprehended from the Indians and that he did not fear 
any of them. As no one’s property but Cassady’s was in 
jeopardy and he refused to take the necessary precautions for 

*Oue of the first officers of Tulare County. 


its protection, the rest of the boys concluded that if Cassady 
could stand it, they could, and so they all went to bed, and no 
guard tvas put out that night, Savage sleeping in a covered 
wagon inside the inclosure. In the moiming the first sight 
that greeted the boys was an arrow sticking in the canvas of 
the main tent, and, upon further examination,arrows were found 
sticking in several of the mules and horses inside the corral, 
and fresh Indian foot-pi'ints were found all along the bank of 
the river; but, notwithstanding these unmistakable evidences 
of hostility on the part of the Indians, Cassady refused to be 
warned by them, and stubbornly persisted in his declarations 
that there was no real danger, and that the Indians would 
harm no one. 

VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZED. 

On the day following, Leach and Savage left Cassady’s 
camp and went to Mariposa, where, about this time, three 
volunteer companies were organized, under command of Maj. 
James D. Savage. Captain Kuykendall commanded Com¬ 
pany A, of seventy men; Capt. John Bowling commanded 
Company B, of seventy-two men, and Capt. William Dill com¬ 
manded Company C, of fifty-five men—M. B. Lewis acting as 
Adjutant, and A. Brunston, Surgeon, who was afterwards 
removed and Dr. Lewis Leach appointed in his stead. In the 
meantime Cassady was visited with the inevitable conse¬ 
quences of his temerity and foolhardiness, for intelligence 
reached Mariposa that he had been killed by the Indians. A 
detachment of thirty men of Captain Kuykendall’s company, 
among whom was Dr. Leach—now residing in Fresno City— 
was detached to go and look for the remains of Cassadv, and 
perhaps of others. The body of Cassady was found on the 
bank of the San Joaquin River, a short distance below his 
trading-post. His legs had been cut off, his tongue cut out 
and pinned with an arrow over the region of his heart, and 
the body was otherwise horribly mutilated. He was decently 
interred near the place where he fell. 

SOLDIERS MOUNTED ON MUSTANGS. 

Here the detachment, which was composed mostly of sailors, 
captured a band of mustangs and cattle. The men were 
nearly all on foot, and when the fat, fine-looking mustangs 
were captured, the idea of further walking was scorned, and 
each of the sailors secured a horse; they had no ropes, sad¬ 
dles, or bridles, and rawhide was substituted for all these— 
rawhide bridles were made—blankets were lashed to the 
backs of the horses with rawhides, to serve as saddles, and 
rawhide ropes were manufactured. When everything was 
ready, and the detachment was ready to depart, each one 
mounted his untamed, fiery steed, and then the fun com¬ 
menced. The sailors, who knew as much about horses, 
and especially mustangs, as a baby does about a steamboat, 
went spinning through the air like windmills, while the mus¬ 
tangs, feeling themselves once more free, raced off into their 













90 


TREATY MADE WITH THE INDIANS 


native plains with all the improvised accouterments fastened 
to them. Fortunately, none of them sustained serious injury, 
and the discomfited sailors, finding their first lesson in eques¬ 
trian exercises unsuccessful, wisely concluded that it was far 
better to walk than to again attempt riding such kicking, 
bucking brutes. 

From Cassady’s place, Kuykendall’s company was ordered 
to the head-waters of the San Joaquin River, where they 
fought a battle with the Indians, killing thirteen and wound- 
ing many others. Captain Bowling was sent to the Yo Semite 
country, and Captain Dill was ordered with his company to 
the head-waters of the Chowchilla. Several battles were 
fought, the Indians being in every instance soundly whipped, 
and finding that further resistance was useless, they soon sued 
for peace. Tomquit, the chief of the San Joaquin tribe, and 
Frederico, their war chief, came in and surrendered, and soon 
after all the chiefs of the hostile tribes surrendered and gave 
themselves up; whereupon a treaty of peace, between the 
chiefs and three commissioners sent out by the Government, 
was concluded, drawn up and signed on the 29th day of April, 
1851. The original treaty and the muster rolls were in posses¬ 
sion of W. T. Rumble, Esq., of Fresno, and shown us by him. 

Among other stipulations of the treaty was that in con¬ 
sideration of the premises, and with a sincere desire to encour¬ 
age said tribes in acquiring the arts and habits of civilized life, 
the United States will also furnish them with the following 
articles, to be divided among them by the agent according to 
their respective numbers and wants, during each of the two 
years succeeding the said ratification, viz:— 

“Two pairs strong pantaloons and two red flannel shirts for 
each man and boy; one linsey gown for each woman and girl; 
3,000 yards calico and 3,000 yards brown sheetings; 30 pounds 
Scotch thread; 6 dozen pairs scissors, assorted; 1 gross thim¬ 
bles and 5 of needles, assorted; one 2i-pt. Mackinaw blanket for 
each man and woman over 15 years of age; 3,000 pounds iron 
and 800 pounds steel. And in like manner in the first year 
for the permanent use of the said tribes and as their joint prop¬ 
erty, viz: 75 brood mares and 3 stallions; 150 milch cows and 
3 bulls; 12 yoke of work cattle, with yokes, chains, etc.; 12 
work mules and horses; 30 plows (10 large and 20 small); 30 
sets plow harness for horses or mules; seeds of all proper kinds 
for planting and sowing; 100 chopping axes; 100 hatchets, 
300 mattocks or picks; 300 garden or corn hoes; 100 spades; 
15 grindstones; 3 U. S. flags—one for each principal chief.” 

FORT BISHOP ERECTED BY SAVAGE. 

In the summer of 1851, after the treaty was concluded, 
Savage put up a store on the Fresno River. In the following 
winter he moved further down the river and built Fort Bishop, 
doing the bulk of his trading with the Indians, who in those 
days dug out large quantities of gold-dust, the mines having 
hardly been prospected by the whites. The Indians still man¬ 


ifested a restless and turbulent spirit, but did not resume 
open hostilities; but they were not admitted inside the store, 
and the goods which they bought with their gold-dust were 
handed out to them through small openings left in the walls, 
and which were securely fastened at night. 

INDIAN RESERVATIONS ESTABLISHED. 

About this time the Fresno Indian Reservation was estab¬ 
lished, Col. Thomas Henley being appointed agent, with W. B. 
Lewis sub-agent, and J. B. Folsom chief hunter. 

Soon after the King’s River Reservation was established, also 
under Colonel Henley, with Wm. J. Campbell sub-agent; one 
Judge Marvin was quartermaster at this reservation, furnish¬ 
ing all the supplies; Chas. A. Hart was his wagon-master, and 
E. P. Hart and D. J. Johnson were also employed here. Judge 
Hart still resides at Fort Miller, which property he purchased. 

The Indians in the meantime kept quiet, and everything 
went on smoothly and harmoniously enough until the 16th 
day of August, 1852. 

MURDER OF SAVAGE BY JUDGE HARVEY. 

Some time previous to this date, August 16, 1852, one 
Major Harvey, and Wm. J Campbell, either hired or incited a 
lot of men, who rushed into one of the rancherias on King’s 
River and succeeded in killing a number of old squaws. Har¬ 
vey and Campbell had become jealous of Savage in conse¬ 
quence of his prosperity with, and his influence over, the 
Indians. Savage complained of this dastardly outrage to the 
Indian Commissioners, and publicly asserted that Harvey was 
no gentleman, which of course came to the ears of Harve}^. 
On the 16th day of August, 1852, Savage paid a visit to the 
King’s River Reservation, but previously to this Harvey 
declared that if Savage ever came there he would not return 
alive. Arriving at the reservation early in the forenoon, 
Savage found there Harvey and Judge Marvin, and a quarrel 
at once ensued between Savage and Harvey, the latter de¬ 
manding of Savage a retraction of the language he had used 
regarding Harvey, whereupon Savage slapped Harvey across 
the face with his open hand, and while doing this his pistol fell 
out of his shirt bosom and was picked up by Marvin. Harvey 
then stepped up to Marvin and said : “Marvin, you have dis¬ 
armed me, you have my pistol.” “No,” said Marvin, “this is 
Major Savage’s pistol,” whereupon Harvey, finding Savage 
unarmed, commenced firing his own pistol, shooting five balls 
into Savage, who fell, and died almost instantly. Marvin was 
standing by ail this time, with Savage’s pistol in his hands, too 
cowardly or scared to interfere and prevent the murder. 

ACTS OF FIRST COUNTY JUDGE. 

At this time Harvey was . County Judge of Tulare County, 
and one Joel H. Brooks, who had been in the employment of 
Savage for several years, and who had received at his hands 
nothing but kindness and favors, was appointed by Harvey, 









ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF THE VALLEY. 


91 


Justice of the Peace, for the purpose, it is said, of investigating 
Harvey’s case for the killing of Savage. Of course Harvey 
was acquitted by Brooks—was not even held to answer before 
the Grand Jury. Harvey finally left, in mortal fear of the 
Indians, for he imagined that every Indian was seeking his 
life to avenge the murder of Savage. He became nervous and 
irritable and finally died of paralysis. 

MONUMENT ERECTED TO SAVAGE. 

In 1855, Dr. L. Leach, now of Fresno, who had formally 
been associated with Savage in the mercantile business, disin¬ 
terred the remains of Savage and transferi'ed them to the 
Fresno River, to a point known as Leach’s old store. A shaft 
about ten feet high, standing upon a pedestal, both of Con¬ 
necticut granite, and costing $800, marks the spot where Sav¬ 
age rests, and bears the simple inscription, “Maj. Jas. D. 
Savage.” 

This monument weighs many tons. It was shipped from 
Connecticut by water to Stockton and from there transported 
across the country by eight horses, and on a truck especially 
constructed. Great difficulty was found in placing the monu¬ 
ment, owing to want of proper tackle. 

Savage had complete control over the Indians; he had mar¬ 
ried the daughters of five different chiefs; and although uned¬ 
ucated, being unable to either read or write, he amassed, within 
a few years, a fortune of $100,000. He was an excellent 
judge of human nature, a shrewd business man, fearless and 
generous to a fault, even to his foes; and had he lived, would 
have wielded an immense influence in the affairs of the coun¬ 
try, but whether for good or evil, no one can tell. 

After the death of Savage, many were the aspirants who 
sought to step into his shoes and gain prominence among, and 
control over the Indians; but no one ever succeeded in filling 
his place among them. They felt like orphans, and realized 
the fact that their best friend was gone. 

Since that time they have dwindled away; and the 
various tribes that then counted their thousands, have now 
scarcely a corporal’s guard left. Whisky and other vices have 
decimated them. 


The Indian Race. 

The race is a thing of the past; the villages which dotted 
the banks of the river are razed to the ground, and nearly all 
traces of their existence are obliterated. Most of the aborig¬ 
ines have gone to the happy hunting-grounds, those remaining 
being scattered among the hills and settlements, possessing no 
tribal relations or village organizations. 

Kit Carson'says that in 1829 the valleys of California were 
full of Indians. He saw much of large and flourishing tribes 


that then existed. When he again visited the State, in 1839, 
they had mostly disappeared, and the people who resided in the 
localities where he had seen them declared that they had no 
knowledge of them whatever. They had disappeared, and left 
no record of the cause that led to their extermination. No 
estimate of their numbers appears to have been made until 
1833, and it was known that they had then greatly decreased. 

It does not appear difficult to account for the rapid decrease 
in the number of these savages. The different tribes were 
continually at war. Besides this, the cholera broke out among 
them in the fall of 1833, and raged with terrible violence. So 
great was the mortality, they were unable either to bury or 
burn their dead, and the air was filled with ihe stench of 
putrefying bodies. 

Col. J. J. Warner, at present residing in Los Angeles, was 
one of the Ewing Young party, who, while on a trapping ex¬ 
pedition, passed up through the Sacramento Valley in 1832^ 
and returned in 1833. He says “the banks of the San Joaquin 
and King’s River were studded with Indian villages, the houses 
of which, in the spring, during the day-time, were red with 
the salmon the aborigines were curing. At this time there 
were not upon the San Joaquin or Sacramento Rivers, or any 
one of their tributaries, nor within the valleys of the two 
rivers, any inhabitants but Indians. At the mouth of King’s 
River we encountered the first and only village of the stricken 
race that we had seen after entering the great valley: this 
village contained a large number of Indians, temporarily stop¬ 
ping at that place. We were encamped near the village one 
night only, and during that time the death angel, passing over 
the camping-ground of these plague-stricken fugitives, waved 
his wand, summoning from the little remnant of a once num¬ 
erous people, a score of victims, to muster to the land of the 
Manitou; and the cries of the dying mingled with the wails 
of the bereaved made the night hideous, in that veritable valley 
of death. 

“On our return, late in the summer of 1833, we found the 
valley depopulated. From the head of the Sacramento to the 
great bend and slough of the San Joaquin, we did not see more 
than six or eight live Indians, while large numbers of their 
skulls and dead bodies were to be seen under almost every 
shade tree, near water, where the uninhabited and deserted 
villages had been converted into grave-yards; and on the San 
Joaquin River, in the immediate neighborhood of the larger 
class of villages, we found not only many graves, but the 
vestiges of a funeral pyre.” 

INDIAN SWEAT-HOUSE. 

“About the only thing common to all the Indians of the 
Pacific Coast was the sweat-house. This great sanitary insti¬ 
tution, found in every rancheria or village, was a large circu¬ 
lar excavation, covered with a roof of boughs plastered with 
mud, having a hole on one side for an entrance, and another in 







92 


HABITS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIANS. 



the roof to serve as a chimnev. A fire bavins: been lighted in 
the center, the sick were placed there to undergo a sweat-bath, 
for many hours, to be succeeded by a plunge-in cold water. 

“This treatment was their cure-all, and whether it killed or 
relieved the patient depended upon the nature of his disease 
and the vigor of his constitution. Their knowledge of the 
proper treatment of disease was on a level with their attain¬ 
ments in all the arts of life. Roots and herbs were sometimes 
used as remedies, but the ‘sweat-house’ was the principal reli¬ 
ance in desperate cases. A gentleman who was tempted, some 
years ago, to enter one of these sanitary institutions, gives the 
following story of his experience:— 

“A sweat-house is the shape of an inverted bowl. It is gen¬ 
erally about forty feet in diameter at the bottom, and is built 
of strong poles and branches of trees, covered with earth to 
prevent the escape of heat. There is a small hole near the 
ground, large enough for 
the diggers to creep in one 
at a time, and another at 
the top of the house, to 
give vent to the smoke. 

When a dance is to occur, 
a large fire is kindled in 
the center of the edifice, 
the crowd assembles, the 
white spectators crawl in 
and seat themselves any¬ 
where out of the way. 

The apertures, both above 
and below, are then closed, 
and the dancers take their 
position. Half-naked In¬ 
dians and squaws join in 
the festivities. Simulta¬ 
neous with the commence¬ 
ment of the dancing, which 
is a kind of shuffling hob¬ 
ble-de-hoy, the music bursts forth. Yes, music fit to raise the 
dead. A whole legion of devils broke loose! Such screaming, 
shrieking, yelling and roaring was never before heard since 
the foundation of the world. A thousand cross-cut saws, 
filed by steam power—a multitude of tom-cats lashed to¬ 
gether and flung over a clothes-line—innumerable pigs under 
the gate, all combined, would produce a heavenly melody com¬ 
pared with it. 

“Round about the roaring fire the Indians go capering, 
jumping, and screaming, with the perspiration starting from 
every pore. The spectators look on until the air grows thick 
and heavy, and a sense of oppressing suffocation overcomes 
them, when they make a simultaneous rush at the door for 
self-protection, and find it fastened securely; bolted and barred 
on the outside. The uproar but increases in fury, the fire 


Interior or Temescal, 


waxes hotter and hotter, and they seem to be preparing for fresh 
exhibitions of their powers. The combat deepens, on, ye brave! 
See that wild Indian, a newly-elected captain, as with glaring 
eyes, blazing face, and complexion like that of a. boiled lobster, 
he tosses his arms wildly aloft, as in pursuit of imaginary 
devils, while rivers of perspiration roll down his naked frame. 

“After hours of suffocation in solution of human perspira¬ 
tion, carbonic acid, charcoal smoke, the uproar ceases and the 
Indians vanish through an aperture, opened for the purpose. 
The Indians plunge headlong into the ice-cold waters of a 
neighboring stream, and crawl out and sink down on the banks 
utterly exhausted. This is the last act of the drama, the 
grand climax, and the fandango is over.” 

Most of the wild Indians had no permanent place or resi¬ 
dence. Each tribe had a territory which it considered its own, 
and within which its members moved about. Each family had 

a hut, and a cluster of 
these huts was called a 
rancheria. The ranche- 
rias were usually estab¬ 
lished on the banks of 
streams, in the vicinity of 
oak trees, horse-chestnut 
bushes, and patches of wild 
clover. Such places were 
generally on fertile soil, 
with picturesque scenery. 

In the San Joaquin Val¬ 
ley it was more convenient 
to make the hut a frame¬ 
work of poles, and cover 
it with rushes or tules. 
These huts might be de- 
serted for a time, but were 
considered the property of 

or Indian Sweat-House. buildeis, who moved, 

according to the seasons, 
to those places where they could obtain food most conven¬ 
iently. In one month they would go to the thickets; in 
another, to the open plain; in another, to the streams. 

FOOD AND ITS PREPARATION. 

The principal living of the Indians was grass seeds, acorns 
and fish. The men were sometimes enterprising enough to kill 
an antelope, deer, or other game, but as this usually required 
some considerable labor, fresh meat was not on the daily bill of 
fare. The squaws did all the hard work, and even had to 
carry in the fish caught by the lords of creation. The wife or 
mother of a family was expected to provide all the food neces¬ 
sary for her lord and the chddren. They make water-tight 
baskets of willow twigs, in which they collected and prepared 
their food, carried water, etc. The acorns were dried, and 
pounded i» stone mortars into a very fine flour. A basin was 






































































































THE CHARACTER AND HABITS OF INDIANS. 


93 


then made in the sand on the river bank, about twenty inches 
across and four inches deep, into which a coating of this meal, 
about half an inch thick, was put, and water poured on until 
both meal and sand were perfectly saturated. This being left 
to stand several hours, took the bitter taste of the acorn entirely 
away. The squaws understood then just how to take this up, 
without in the least mixing it with the sand. It was then put 
into a basket, and a kind of soup made of it. 

Grass seeds were pounded up and made into soup, but did 
not have to go through the purifying process of the sand 
basins. The river, creeks, and several sloughs, were full of 
fish, and these were caught by means of nets made of wild 
hemp. The nets were generally made by the men. Every 
spring, when the salmon were running up the river, enough 
were caught and dried to last nearly all the year. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES. 

In height, these Indians rarely exceed five feet eight inches 
and more frequently they are lower in stature. In build, they 
are strong and well knit, though seldom symmetrical. A low, 
retreating forehead, black, deep est ojcs, thick, bushy eye¬ 
brows, high cheek-bones, a nose depressed at the root, and 
somewhat spread out at the nostrils, a large mouth, with thick 
prominent lips, teeth large and white, but not always regular, 
ratjier large ears, large hands and feet, the latter being perfectly 
flat, and a broad chin, is the prevailing type. 

The complexion is generally very dark, often being nearly 
black, though some are more of a copper color. The hair is very 
thick, coarse, black and straight; is generally worn short, es¬ 
pecially by the men and some of the older women. The 
younger ones always wear theirs long. 

The men have beards, short, thin, and stiff. We have seen 
some of the young men with a soft, downy moustache upon _ 
their upper lip, cultivating it with as much pride as the ordi¬ 
nary “ Young America.” 

TOILET OF AN INDIAN BELLE. 

The women were scarcely better clad, although we think 
they were much more modest than their sisters of the Colus 
tribe, who were the admiration of our friend Green, of Colusa, 
in his younger days, and who, he says in his History of 
Colusa County* were so negligent and untidy as to allow 
their tunicas to wear out “ until a very few cords sufficed to 
remind them of the modesty of Mother Eve.” 

The Indian women of this valley in summer-time wore a 
fringed apron of tule and other grasses, which fell from the 
waist before and behind nearly down to the knees, and open 
at the sides. We never heard of their failing to keep these 
dresses in good repair, and think when one became suffi¬ 
ciently soiled or damaged to shock the modesty of an admirer 
that they certainly must have ordered a new one. 

’Published in 1879 by Elliott & Co. 


There was a great plenty of grass in the country at that 
time, and it would have been an easy matter for one of our 
belles to have kept a wardrobe, with several changes in it for 
all emergencies. 

A SHOCKING THOUGHT. 

To think of one of these belles appearing at a ball with 
simply a bunch of tules hung down in front as her only ball 
dress, is simply shocking. 

They might have done such things in Colusa, and such 
sights may have been witnessed by the historian Green in his 
young days, but we will not add to the already sufficiently 
degraded character of the tribes among us such utter disre¬ 
gard of modesty and decency among their women. 

In the winter season a half-tanned deer skin is used in addi¬ 
tion to the garment above mentioned. The hair is generally 
worn cut short, though occasionally we find it loose and flow¬ 
ing, especially among the younger women, it frequently falling 
below the waist. They “ banged ” the hair by cutting it off 
square in front, and we presume the present style in vogue 
among the white belles is taken from the custom of some of 
these aboriginal tribes. We never saw any of them with 
“ montagues” on; it may be that they are not yet far enough 
advanced in civilization to adopt these late beautifiers of the 
person. 

FOOD AND METHOD OF OBTAINING IT. 

Their main reliance for food is acorns, roots, grass-seeds, 
berries, and fish. Though generally too lazy to hunt, yet there 
were times when the men ventured forth on the chase, and 
managed to kill an antelope, deer, rabbit, or some other game. 
Small game, such as hares, rabbits, and birds, were easily shot 
with the bow and arrow, as well as deer and antelope. In 
hunting the latter the hunter, disguised with the head and 
horns of a stag, creeps through the long grass to within a few 
yards of the unsuspecting herd, and pierces the heart of the 
fattest buck at his pleasure. Game traps, it seems, were never 
invented by any of them, and they had to depend on the chase 
altogether for meat. The squaws gather the acorns, roots, 
grass-seeds, berries, etc., and, in fact, do all the hard work, even 
to carrying in the fish and game which have been captured by 
their lords. 

The squaw, who is a wife and mother, is required and 
expected to provide all the food necessary for her buck and 
the papooses. We have seen them gathering acorns in the 
forest with large, cone-shaped, willow baskets, carried on then- 
backs by means of a strap attached to the basket and carried 
around over the head, throwing the whole weight on the fore¬ 
head; they would knock the acorns down with a pole which 
they carried for that purpose, and tilling their baskets would 
return towards night, to all appearances completely fatigued. 
We have seen them in numbers passing through the streets of 
the town loaded down with the fruit of the oak. 








94 


THE CHARACTER AND HABITS OF INDIANS. 


MODE OF CATCHING FISH. 

They caught fish by both spearing and netting. The 
waters of the San Joaquin, King’s, and Kern Rivers generally 
furnished them with good fishing. They spear the salmon 
with spears made of some kind of tough wood, from four and 
a half to five feet long, headed Avith flint or bone sharpened to 
a point. 

We have seen them catching fish with a net in a manner 
somewhat similar to the American mode of netting. They 
dry the fish in the sun, and also pieces of meat cut string-like; 
this they reserve for winter. After the whites arrived in the 
county the Indians became, to a great extent, beggars, and now 
frequently slide around to the back door and beg a meal .of 
victuals, it being seldom that auything can be obtained from 
them as a recompense for it; sometimes you can get them to 
saw a little wood, but not often. When they are employed in 
this manner, they are slow and lazy about it. 

KINDS OF FOOD. 

As heretofore stated in Dr. Marsh’s article, “their food varies 
with the season. Id February and March they live on grass 
and herbage; clover and wild pea-vine are among the best 
of their pasturage. I have often seen hundreds of them graz¬ 
ing together in a meadow, like so many cattle.” 

The angle-worms were found in boggy and swampy locali¬ 
ties, around springs, ponds, etc. The squaws, taking their 
sticks of chaparral, which formed their usual instruments of 
excavation, pushed them down into the mire. By shaking 
these from side to side, the surrounding earth was compressed. 
The worms, feeling the pressure, came to the surface, and were 
quickly seized and thrown into the baskets. When washed 
and boiled they made an excellent and nutritious soup—for the 
Indians. 

The green plant-worms were picked from the vegetation, 
stripped by the fingers, and dried or boiled. 

The ants were sometimes disposed of by simply carrying 
them from the tree or bush to the mouth upon the tongue— 
primitive, indeed, in its simplicity. 

Pine cones were gathered before the nuts had fallen out, and 
much labor was therefore saved. The nuts, which are of a 
pleasant, oily taste, and exceedingly nutritious, were extracted 
.by beating the cones, and eaten raw. 

The wild pea-vines were gathered in immense quantities 
when young and tender. By placing elder sticks against the 
sides of the basket and extending beyond the opening, the 
squaw was enabled to carry nearly a cart-load of the light 
growth. In the spring and summer they make lengthy trips 
into the mountains in search of food, and sometimes prepared 
their winter stock in these encampments, carrying it after¬ 
wards to their rancherias. To prepare the pea-vine for eating, 
the hole in the ground was resorted to. In this, heated rocks 
were placed, and covered with a layer of the vine; water was 


thoroughly sprinkled on; then two or three heated rocks; 
another layer of pea-vine, sprinkled as before; and so in that 
order by successive layers, until the mass was formed in the 
shape of a cone. When completed, one of the baskets was 
placed over it, forming a secure covering, and the mass left 
until the next day. It was then thoroughly steamed and 
cooked. The squaw, with the stone pestle, crushed the steamed 
mass on an inclined board. With the sole of her foot placed 
at the bottom of the incline, she kept the vines on the board. 
The process was continued until all became plastic. The squaw 
then with her hands shaped it into the form or a cake, and 
after putting a hole through the center, hung it out to dry. 
The heated rocks were handled by the squaws with two sticks 
as easily and gracefully as a civilized woman would wield the 
tongs. 

The great chief “Ten-ie-ya” of the Yosemite tribe, was 
captured at the time of the Indian war just mentioned, and 
kept in captivity. But the chief became tired of his food, said 
it was the season for grass and clover, and that it was tanta¬ 
lizing for him to be in sight of such abundance, and not be 
permitted to taste it. It was interpreted to Captain Boling, 
when he good-humoredly said that he should have a ton if he 
desired it. Mr. Cameron (now of Los Angeles) attached a rope 
to the old man’s body, and led him out to graze. A wonderful 
improvement took place in his condition, and in a few days' he 
looked like a new man. 

BUT FEW INDIANS REMAIN. 

The numerous tribes that once occupied the valley of the 

San Joaquin and the foot-hills of the Sierras, have actually 

« 

died out or been reduced to a few miserable individuals. 

There are but few now left in the country, and an Indian is 
rarely seen. As the valleys were occupied and fenced, the 
usual modes of Indian hunting and living were cut off. Quar¬ 
rels were frequent with the settlers, who claimed to have had 
cattle stolen, and the Indian was sure on general principles to 
receive severe punishment. 

LAST INDIAN TROUBLE. 

The last serious Indian difficulty occurred in the summer of 
1856, when the Four Creek Indians again went on the war 
path. Companies were soon raised in the adjoining counties. 
About fifty men from Tulare County went to the scene of 
disturbance. The soldiers stationed at Fort Miller, under 
Captain Livingston, among whom was John Dwyer, also 
repaired to the battle-field, taking two howitzers with them, 
and soon the redskins were dislodged and subdued. 

TULARE COUNTY SOLDIERS. 

In this campaign, the “ Petticoat,” or “ Cottonbag ” Brigade, 
of Tulare County, did distinguished and enviable service, and 
is entitled to particular mention for their gallantry, fearless¬ 
ness, and intrepidity, and above all for their ludicrous and 
mummy-like appearance in the field. 











THE TULARE AND KERN RIVER INDIANS. 


95 


The boys from Millerton and vicinity, were under Capt. Ira 
Stroud. Chas. A. Hart acted as commissary, furnishing beef, 
etc., and was dubbed Captain Carne, meat captain. 

The Coai'se Gold Gulch and Ft^sno River boys were under 
Capt. J. L. Hunt, and the whole force from Fresno County 
was designated as the “ San Joaquin thieves.” 

INDIAN BATTLE ON TULARE LAKE. 

There is an Indian tradition of a battle on Tulare Lake. It 
is the story of a fight the Indians of this valley had more than 
half a century ago with the Mexicans. It is given here as it 
was told to J. W. A. Wright by an old Indian who now lives on 
the Tule River Reservation, three miles above Porterville, on 
the north side of Tule River. This old man says a fierce battle 
and several skirmishes were fought between his people and the 
Mexicans, somewhere between Atwell’s Island and the mouth 
of Tule River. This occurred when he was a boy just begin¬ 
ning to go about with the warriors of his race. As he was 
then perhaps sixteen or seventeen years old, and is now 
between .seventy and eighty, this would place the battle in 
question some fifty or sixty years ago. His statement is that 
a Mexican force came to this valley across the Coast Mountains 
from a mission, likely San Juan. This force had, as the old 
chief expresses it, “ a big gun on a cart.” He says the “ big 
gun ” killed plenty of Indians every time it was shot. But 
there were too many Indians for the Mexicans. They drove 
the force back and captured the big gun on wheels. 

Having no use for it and not knowing what else to do with 
it, a large number of them ran it out into the lake as far as they 
could, and left it there. The very shallow nature of the lake 
along that shore shows how easily they could have done this. 
Two miles from shore the water is only three feet deep, and in 
sounding during a sail for twenty-five miles across that end of 
the lake the greatest depth sounded was only .six feet. If this 
tradition of the Indians be true, and it certainly has about it 
the air of probability, that old Spanish cannon must now be 
lying somewhere in the lake, possibly imbedded in its sandy or 
muddy bottom, to be some day exposed and found, should the 
lake water continue to recede as it has for ten years past. The 
old Indian states farther that his people drove the Mexicans 
back by way of Buena Vista Slough, and they killed three 
Mexicans at the south end of the lake and buried them there. 
Buena Vista Slough, which now is and has for some years 
been dry, then emptied into Tulare Lake on the west side of 
-Skull Island, near <! The Willows.” 

Though a few surviving Indians resort to Tulare Lake, there 
were large villages of them near the lake in the remote past, 
and even when white men first came into this valley, about 
thirty years ago. Still more of them lived around the lake 
when Spanish expeditions penetrated Tulare Valley from the 
mission stations near the coast, fifty, eighty, and one hundred 
years ago. These lake Indians navigated parts of this lake, 


more or less, from remote ages up to within the last six or eight 
years, in canoes about twelve feet long, built of dry tides 
strongly lashed together by ropes of green tules, the sides and 
bottom made about four inches thick, just such boats as the 
ancient Egyptians made from the bulrushes of the Nile, and 
such as the Abyssinians make to this day along the Upper 
Nile. The aborigines also made strong, light rafts, by lashing 
them together in bundles—these tules frequently growing eight 
or ten feet long. The rafts were usually made ten or twelve 
feet long, and six or eight feet wide. These rude crafts—both 
canoes and rafts—-would safely carry three or four Indians 
in shallow and quiet water, such as exists in good weather in 
the shallows near the shores. 

KERN RIVER INDIANS. 

The Indians of Kern River, owing to the influence of a 
mission chief “ Don-Bincente,” who had a plantation at the 
Tejon’s Pass, remained peaceful during the Indian troubles of 
1851-56. Some 150 of the remnants of the Indian tribes still 
live at the entrance of the Tejon Canon in cottages of adobe, 
covered with thatch. They have been taught a simple form of 
civilization Their dwellings are well constructed, comfortable, 
and neatly and cleanly kept. They cultivate the ground to 
the extent of their wants, and have gardens and vineyards 
and free range for their ponies. 

They work mostly on General Beale’s ranch, who pays them 
cash for their labor. They are faithful and trustworthy, and 
do their work just as they are told. A few have learned to 
read and write, and are generally inclined to save their earn¬ 
ings, but are inclined to games of chance. 

They profess the Catholic religion which seems to have 
peculiar adaptation to their wants. They have an humble 
place of worship at their principal settlement surmounted by a 
cross. One of the congregation often read prayers, and sup¬ 
plied the place of a priest. 

Both men and women since the advent of civilization, have 
adopted, as nearly as possible, the dress of the whites. The 
women wear the brightest colors of calicos, and sometimes are 
rich enough to own an old shawl. 

KING’S RIVER INDIANS. 

At King’s River, says Ross Brown, there was a public farm 
maintained at considerable expense, the Indians were collected 
in a body of two or three hundred, and the white settlers drove 
them over to the Fresno Agency, after an expenditure of 
$30,000 a year. For six years that farm had scarcely pro¬ 
duced six blades of grass, and was unable to support the few 
Indians who lived there. Notwithstanding the acorns, many of 
them perished of hunger on the plains. 

TULE RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION. 

This reservation was about thirty miles from Yisalia, on 
rented land. Of course no lasting improvements were made 





96 


SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTY. 


on lands rented from year to year, and consequently the labor 
of the Indians was only periodically employed. Six adobe 
dwellings had been erected in 1870, for the Manaches, and 
several frame dwellings been built bv the Tales. Comfortable 
houses sufficient in number for all the Indians were provided 
at a later date. The agent’s residence was an old unfinished 
adobe building, sadly in want of repairs. 

The following tribes were attached to this reservation, viz.: 
the Kowsis, Yowkies, Wachamnis, Monos, and Tejons, but 
they roamed at large through the section of country. As they 
never had been compelled to live on the reservation, they pre¬ 
ferred living away, as they obtained work from farmers, stock 
owners, etc. The Manache Indians, who formerly lived here, 
nearly all left and are living in the mountains. 

The Indians were quiet, peaceable, and well-disposed, and 
became proficient in all kinds of farm work. The school 
taught on the reservation had been of real and lasting benefit: 
in addition to the Indians learning the English language, and 
its first rudiments, sewing and making garments, washing and 
ironing had been taught them, in all of which many of the 
oldest scholars become quite proficient, as well as many of the 
Indian women. 

James D. Savage, in 1851, reported the Indians of this section 


as follows:— 

KING’S RIVER INDIANS. 

Wachcries.1,000 

Cassawas.1,000 


2,000 

KERN RIVER INDIANS. 

Taches.1,000 

Tohountos. 700 


1,700 

TULARE LAKE INDIANS. 

Tularaneauz.1,000 

Umas Indians and neighbors.5,000 


6,000 

Savage gave the following estimate of all the California 
Indians:— 

Klamath, Trinidad, Sacramento and tributaries. . 30,000 
San Joaquin and tributaries, down to Tuolumne. 9,500 


Tuolumne River Indians. 2,100 

Merced “ “ 2,100 

San Joaquin River and head-waters Indians. 2,700 

King’s “ “ “ 2,000 

Kern “ “ " 1,700 

Tulare “ “ “ 1,000 

Umas “ “ “ 5,000 

East side Sierra Nevada. 31,000 

On Coast, not civilized. 6,000 


Total. 90,000 


This estimate was undoubtedly too large, as no accurate 
estimate or census was ever taken of the Indians. They were 
always anxious to make their numbers as large as possible, to 
aid in overawing the whites. 


Soil and Productions of the County. 

The large extent, varied resources, and known capabilities 
of the lands of this county give assurance that at an early day 
it will become densely populated by a prosperous people. The 
cultivation of the soil will always be the principal industry, 
yet there are numerous opportunities for the establishment of 
such others as are required to make a community truly inde¬ 
pendent and self-sustaining. 

This valley is destined to eventually become one of the 
most prosperous and favored regions on the continent. Its vast 
area, favorable climate, fertile soil, and varied mineral and 
agricultural resources, must necessarily attract the attention 
of the immigrant and capitalist, and they will unite to develop 
its latent wealth. Thus far the gi-eat work has been barely 
commenced. Immense tracts of overflowed land that might 
be reclaimed and made to produce extraordinary crops of 
wheat, or which could be devoted to the cultivation of other 
valuable products, are as yet unimproved. Thousands of 
acres of virgin soil remain uncultivated, although capable of 

returning rich returns for the labor expended upon it. There 

- 

is room for a much larger population, and no possibility that 
the labor market can be overstocked for years to come. Man¬ 
ufactories are required to utilize the various products that are 
now allowed to go to waste; canals are to be dug for irrigating 
the arid plains; railroads constructed to furnish cheaper trans¬ 
portation; mines and quarries are to be opened, that their 
products may be rendered available, and numerous new indus¬ 
tries inaugurated in order that the resources of this vast region 
of country may be fully developed. Nearly every necessary 
or luxury required by man can be here produced, and the 
inhabitants of this valley will have all the advantages of a 
ready access to the principal markets of the world, either for 
the disposal of their surplus products or for the purchase of 
necessary supplies. 

SMALL POPULATION. 

The population of the county is quite small considering its 
large area, and the statistics published show that the productions 
per capita are very remarkable. Taking the wheat product as 
one example, and it is proven that there were one hundred 
bushels of wheat raised for every inhabitant of the whole 
basin, inc'uding the mountain parts as well as the agricultural. 
If the estimate were made for the valley section alone the 
amount per capita would be very much greater. When to 
this is added the products of wool, barley, wine, fruits, bullion, 
etc., it will be seen that the value per capita of the annual 
products of this region of country is probably greater than 
that of any other portion of the known world. While this is 
accomplished by the present population, there is ample room 
for three times tne number, and an opportunity for all to do 
equally well. 














































































































































































































THE TULARE AND KERN VALLEYS. 


97 


INDUCEMENTS OFFERED SETTLERS. 

This county offers superior inducements to those persons who 
are desirous of engaging in agricultural pursuits, and it is 
doubtful whether there is another locality on the continent 
where thorough and systematic farming is more profitable. 
Notwithstanding the occasional droughts which have been dis¬ 
astrous to the careless, unsystematic farmer, repeated experi¬ 
ments have demonstrated the fact that with thorough tillage 
and summer fallowing, crops can be raised in the driest sea¬ 
sons. The time is coming, however, when the farmer of this 
valley will have little cause to fear seasons of drought. A 
complete system of irrigation will be adopted, and canals con¬ 
structed to lead the water of the numerous streams over the 
land to furnish the requisite moisture to secure the growth of 
crops in the driest season. This object will be effected in some 
portions of the valley by artesian wells. A number have been 
bored, and flowing water obtained. Some of these wells fur¬ 
nish sufficient water to irrigate 160 acres of land, and by this 
means it is made capable of growing a great variety of pro¬ 
ducts, and two crops can often be raised the same year. When 
the land is sown to alfalfa, three and sometimes as many as 
five crops are cut—this depending upon the strength of the 
soil. 

In no part of the United States can a settler secure for him¬ 
self as pleasant a home in so short a time. Fruit trees grown 
from the cutting will produce fruit in less than one-half the 
time required in the Eastern States. The growth of orna¬ 
mental trees and shrubbery is equall}' rapid, and where there 
are facilities for irrigation, it is possible for the settler to sur¬ 
round his home with a growth of choice trees and shrubbery 
in a very few years. 

The prices of land are lower in this valley than in any 
other portion of the State within the same distance of a 
market and possessed of similar facilities for transportation. 

THE PLAINS AND BASINS. 

The valley consists of two plains of unequal width, extend¬ 
ing from the foot-hills of the mountains, and meeting in a 
trough, not midway, but considerably west of the center line 
of the great depression. This trough, running from one end 
of the valley to the other, has a general inclination in a north¬ 
westerly direction towards the outlet for all drainage waters of 
the great basin, Suisun Bay. Its slope is not uniform, but 
flattens out at intervals where lakes and marshes exist, as the 
streams flowing on either side have banked up the silt and 
detritus, w r ashed from the mountains, at special points for 
ages past. 

KERN RIVER AND LAKES. 

In this manner, Kern River, sweeping down enormous vol¬ 
umes of decomposed granite, has spread out a broad barrier 
across the valley, inclosing a basin above it for the reception 


of the waters forming Kern and Buena Yista Lakes, at the 
southern extremity of the trough; and King’s River, carrying 
its load of sand and silt to the lowest part of the valley, has 
raised a dam across the depression, and completed the shallow 
basin, where now exists Tulare Lake, one of the greatest 
sheets of fresh water in California. 

It is probable that this trough once held the bed of a contin¬ 
uous stream from Kern River, extending throughout the length 
of the vallev, and receiving the tributaries flowing in on either 
hand. As it is, the depression serves as the drainage-way for 
all the valley, however impeded may be its course. From 
Kern and Buena Yista Lakes, which occupy the same level in 
the lowest depression of the southern end, and are at an eleva¬ 
tion of about 293 feet above low tide, it slopes at the rate of 
about two feet per mile for forty-two miles, to Tulare Lake, 
whose elevation is 198 to 210 feet, according to the stage of its 
waters. Thence to the mouth of Fresno Slough, at the great 
bend of the San Joaquin, fifty-five miles from the lake, the 
slope is .86 feet per mile. 

The total fall from this point to the mouth of the San Joa¬ 
quin River, a distance of 120 miles, is 165 feet. 

TULARE AND KERN VALLEYS. 

Tulare and Kern Valleys lie between the Sierra Nevada and 
Coast Range Mountains, which, coming together as the Tejon 
and Tehachepi Mountains, about the thirty-fifth degree of 
north latitude, form its southernmost limit. 

The river bottoms are extremely fertile, but contiguous to the 
San Joaquin River, Kern and Tulare Lakes, extensive swamps 
exist, that require reclamation before they become adapted to 
tillage, when the fertility is exuberant. 

Little timber occurs even along water-courses, and that of 
a poor character except for fuel. This portion embraces the 
finest lands for the cereals and plants of temperate climes 
within the valley, which will approximate half its arid ex¬ 
tent. 

Some portions of the valley present a more arid surface 
and sterile soil, broken up b} r fresh-water lakes, extensive 
swamps, alkaline deserts, and detached groups of hills and 
mountains. 

The valley may be said to possess no picturesque scenery. 
Like the prairies of the West, it is a vast undulating plain or 
dead level, with an occasional tree, or park of oaks, to diversify 
the general monotony. 

The land is nearly all adapted to tillage, with or without 
irrigation, and is moderately well watered by numerous peren¬ 
nial streams, and by the San Joaquin River. It is level or 
slightly undulatory, only a few feet above tide-water, with 
an occasional low, gravelly knoll and sink or depression, to 
diversify the general monotony of the landscape. 

The valley differs from an Illinois prairie in that it has two 
mao-nificent mountain ranges for its boundaries—the Sierra 





98 


THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF TIIE SOIL. 


Nevadas on the east and the Coast Range on the west. Being 
so situated, it is not exposed to severe storms or cold weather, 
but has a uniform and desirable climate, which, with its rich 
soil, makes a rich agricultural county. 

CHARACTER OF THE SOIL. 

The land along all the rivers and streams has been formed 
by the washings of the streams, and is called “river bottom¬ 
land;” that between the “trough” and the foot-hills is called 
“plain land;” and from thence to the mountains proper, “foot¬ 
hill lands.” 

We meet with the rolling land, or “ hog-wallow,” as it has 
been called, in all parts of the county. Upon this land a few 
years ago wild bunch grass grew in abundance, and it was 
classed too poor for cultivation, but now this same land is con¬ 
sidered very fine wheat land. 

Alkali spots occur in some parts of the county. This name is 
applied, in California, almost indiscriminately, to all soils con¬ 
taining an unusual amount of soluble mineral soil, whose 
presence is frequently made apparent by the “efflorescence,” or 
blooming out on the surface of a white powder or crust, solu¬ 
ble in water. This “alkali” becomes most apparent in dry 
weather following upon rains or irrigation. Later in the sea¬ 
son it usually becomes less perceptible, from intermixture with 
dust, as well as from the failure of the soil-water to rise near 
enough to the surface. The first rain, dissolving the salty sub¬ 
stances, carries them partly into the water-courses, but chiefly 
back into the soil, whence they arise again at the re-occurrence 
of dry weather. 

CAUSE OF ALKALI SOIL. 

Professor Hilgard, in his report to the Board of Regents of 
the State University, says:— 

“The immediate source of the ‘alkali’ is usually to be found 
in the soil-water, which, rising from below and evaporat¬ 
ing at the surface, deposits there whatever of dissolved matter 
it may contain. Such water, when reached by digging, is by 
no means always perceptibly salty or alkaline; and the same 
is mostly true of the soil an inch or two beneath the surface. 
For, since the soil, acting like a wick, draws up the soil-water 
and allows it to evaporate at the surface, it is there, of course, 
that all the dissolved matters accumulate, until the solution 
becomes so strong as to injure or kill all useful vegetation. 
The injury will usually be found to be most severe just at, or 
near, the crown of the root, where the stem emerges from the 
soil. Within certain limits, a greater rain-fall will bring up a 
larger’ amount of alkali; or, if instead of rain, surface irriga¬ 
tion is made to supply an additional amount of water, the same 
effect will be produced; always provided, that the rain-fall or 
irrigation does not go so far as to actually wash a portion of 
the salts definitely beyond the reach of surface evaporation, 
into lower strata, from which springs or seepage will carry 
them into the country drainage.” 


An analysis of alkaline soils made by Professor Hilgard, 
showed as follows: Sulphate of magnesium (epsom salts), 93.2 ; 
chloride of potassium. 0.2; chloride of sodium (common salt), 
5.9. Total 99.3. This alkali was thus shown to consist 
almost entirely of epsom salts, which explains its injurious 
action upon vegetation even in small quantities. 

These alkali spots are now fast disappearing. Much of the 
land containing them has of late years been plowed up and 
sown to grain. 

HOW ALKALI SOIL APPEARS. 

Says the Register: “When a new-comer rides through our 
county, one of the first things that attract Ids attention are 
the snowy white spots that here and there fleck the plain, and 
he not unfrequently takes fright at them, thinking that the 
whole county must be more or less affected with the same sub¬ 
stance. Now there is really no occasion for alarm. All soils 
contain alkali. If they did not they would be perfectly bar¬ 
ren. As nothing will grow in a manure heap, so nothing will 
grow where the alkali is too strong. We have too much of a 
good thing in some places, and that is all there is of it. 

Old settlers tell that twenty years or so ago land that is now 
covered with luxuriant vegetation was as white and apparently 
useless as the worst land we now have, and that the alkali is 
all the time disappearing. This is accounted for upon the en¬ 
tirely reasonable ground that the herds of cattle that have 
roamed over the plains during past years have manured the 
land sufficiently to give vegetation an opportunity to start 
where the alkali was not too strong. We have no alkali water, 
which fact shows that the soil cannot be strongly impregnated 
with that substance to any depth; while upon the alkali plains 
east of the Rocky Mountains the water will take the skin off 
one’s tongue if he drinks it. 

But the alkali land is by no means wholly useless. Where it is 
not too strongly impregnated it produces excellent salt grass 
that keeps green all the year round, and is eaten by all kinds 
of stock with avidity. This being the case many have adopted 
the custom of sowing their alkali lands to alfalfa. Where it 
is too strong for the alfalfa to grow, the salt grass comes up, 
and the two taken together make much better pasturage than 
the alfalfa would alone. 

It is probable that there isn’t more than an acre or two of 
land to the quarter section upon an average, taking the whole 
valley through, that has enough alkali on it to damage it any. 
Such being the case it might be advisable to cultivate the good 
land first, and leave the other untouched. 

“HOG-WALLOW LAND.” 

There is another class of lands in the county which settlers 
have generally avoided until recently. They are plain lands, 
covered with little mounds or hillocks two or three feet high, 
and comprise those portions of the valley most remote from the 
streams. The soil is red and of good quality, being capable of 








A RICH AND PRODUCTIVE SOIL. 


99 


producing a heavy crop of wheat. In some places these “ hog- 
wallows” are underlaid with a ferrugineous cement which 
interferes with cultivation; but generally there is from one to 
two feet of good soil above it; while in many places the cement 
occurs only in broken patches or as a mere shell a half-inch 
thick, underlying the soil. Sometimes this “ bed-rock ” as it is 
called, runs to a depth of six or eight feet, overlaying a clay 
loam. 

There is still much Government land in the county of this 
character which, when leveled, would make the most beautiful 
farms, and they occupy the healthiest portion of the valley. 
They would be excellent fruit lands, and their proximit}’ to 
market would render them valuable for the cultivation of the 
apricot and such fruits as would bear transportation. Some 
irrigation would be necessary". 

CHIEF CROPS RAISED. 

Wheat and barley are produced in abundance. The Cali¬ 
fornia wheat makes the best flour in the world. Much of the 
barley is harvested for hay, so that the farmer may secure the 
benefit of another crop, if the soil is moist, by planting it with 
corn. Fine broom corn may also be produced. Tobacco grows 
well. The soil is admirably adapted to the raising of sugar- 
beets. 

Experiments prove that cotton of a superior quality is des¬ 
tined to be one of the great staples of Kern County". Hops and 
castor-beans may be raised to a great advantage. Most all 
fruits that grow in the semi-tropical or temperate region will 
flourish here. 

Apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots, nectarines, and cher¬ 
ries grow abundantly". Grapes of the finest quality are raised 
to a large extent. The fig yields abundantly here, two or 
three crops a year. A few acres planted in almonds will give 
a large and profitable return. Oranges and limes grow well. 
Strawberries, blackberries, and other small fruits in abundance. 
An endless variety of vegetables may be had at your door at 
any" time of the year. 

RICH AND PRODUCTIVE SOIL. 

As we have said before, the soil is rich and productive, and 
in those portions of the county where a fair system of irriga¬ 
tion has been organized, the crops are prolific to a wonderful 
degree, and ever unfailing. Even on the comparatively small 
acreage that is now tilled, immense quantities of wheat, barley, 
corn, potatoes, hay, and other farm products are raised and 
shipped. Wool is grown to a large extent. 

Many tropical, and all the semi-tropical fruits, as well as 
those of the temperate zone, are cultivated and produce in 
wonderful development and profusion. The pear and apple 
grow larger than anywhere else on the face of the earth. 

Peaches raised in Stokes Valley, Tulare County, were the first 
in San Francisco market in 1883. They" sold at one dollar per 
pound. 


It is a difficult thing for Eastern people to understand the 
remarkable growth that trees make in California, an 1 the early 
age at which they begin to bear, and the almost unlimited 
period they will continue to bear if attended to properly. On 
the ranch of John Allen is a fig-tree eight years old, measur¬ 
ing three feet in circumference, a peach tree two years old, 
quite full of fruit, another three years old, heavily loaded. His 
apricot and peach trees are full of fruit. 

CHARACTER OF CLIMATE. 

The climate is so mild that residents can have vegetables 
fresh from out-of-door gardens the entire year. Some wintei's 
being so mild that the tomato vine, unprotected, survives and 
flourishes the entire year. During the summer are some days 
when the thermometer indicates 106 degrees in the shade, but 
seldom more than three such day"S in succession, and such periods 
at long intervals. Owing, however, to the universally cool 
nights, and the purity of the atmosphere, even this degree of 
heat does not produce that languid and oppressive feeling so 
common on the Atlantic slope. 

All the days are sunny. The solar heat is great, but in the 
shade it is cool enough. The long, sunny days evaporate an 
immense amount of moisture, and the norther greatly hastens 
the evaporation. But with sufficient water, nearly every acre 
of the valley can be made fruitful. 

RESULTS OF THE CLIMATE. 

The following description is given us by a patron, and aptly 
describes the situation of soil and climate. It is dated in 
March. The scene is not overdrawn, and there are thousands 
of acres of unoccupied Government lands in the State, which 
can be obtained and easily brought to the state of perfection 
that characterizes the pretty home which the correspondent 
graphically describes:— 

“ A few miles from the bay-window where we write, the 
snow-covered heads of the Sierra Nevada Mountains stand 
out clear and sharp against the eastern sky. Here in the foot¬ 
hills, fuchias, geraniums, and roses, are bright with half-open 
buds and blossoms. In the closet are crisp, hard quinces of 
last year’s crop; along the borders the quince trees are thickly 
covered with blossoms. The purest crystal waters come leap¬ 
ing from the hearts of the hills, and all the meadows laugh 
with the gayest-colored flowers. Humming-birds and swal¬ 
lows, calla-lilies and verbenas, orange trees, lime trees, lemon 
trees, are all mixed up in sweet confusion. Yonder are olive 
trees in perpetual green, and a little further, English walnuts 
and grape-vines, with leaf-buds fast swelling. The apple trees 
do not believe summer-time has come, and patiently bide their 
time and season, but peaches and apricots and nectarines are 
tossing to the breeze sweetest perfumes. Fig-trees generously 
give three crops a year, and in these early March days have 
pushed out all along their naked arms hundreds of figs as large 
as an infant’s thumb. Pomegranates, almonds, and Newtown 







TOO 


FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TIIE VALLEY. 


pippins grow in the same border as peaceably as if they had 
been life-long friends. Oleanders and sweet cassia trees are 
from ten to twenty feet high, out-of-doors all winter. Down 
the garden walk I see blackberries, raspberries, currants and 
gooseberries. There, also, are half-grown strawberries. In the 
vegetable gardens the beet, carrot, and cabbage, do not seem 
to know when summer leaves off, and so they keep on grow¬ 
ing all the year, until surprised out of all propriety by being 
rudely pulled and thrust into market. 

PLEASANT HOME SCENE. 

“Down the hill slope there is one acre of alfalfa and red clover 
six inches high which gives three crops, and furnishes an aver¬ 
age of eight tons a year of sweet and tender hay. Around 
these bowlder rocks are grape-vines that every year rejoice in 
ten-pound clusters of perfect fruit. A little further along’ 
against the fence, is a seven-year-old vine, three feet- high, with 
three or four short arms from its head, that annually bear one 
hundred pounds of grapes. There is a patch of raisin grapes, 
three years old; the old wood, three inches in diameter, headed, 
three feet from the ground, with triangular frames around them 
to support the fruit. • After the children and chickens and 
wasps had picked at them last year, they yielded ten pounds 
each of perfectly luscious dried raisins. The quality and 
quantity of pears, plums^and cherries, is to us so marvelous we 
dare not risk our reputation for truthfulness by repeating the 
items as they were told to us. Around the east porch is a sol¬ 
itary rosebush, trained in festoons, l'eaching over seventy feet 
—-at that point cut back, because it was encroaching upon the 
rights of its neighbor, who was ambitious to share the honor 
of crowning this sweetest of mountain homes with buds and 
blossoms.” 

SPECIMEN OF A CALIFORNIA HOME. 

We wish to add that this description is a picture of the 
thousands of homes that it is possible, with a little persever¬ 
ance and wisely-directed industry, to build up in this sunny 
clime. The owners of this paradise are working people. The 
wife is equally at home in the kitchen, nursery or chicken 
yard, at the piano or in the parlor. The husband is the son 
of a Puritan sire, and a pioneer Californian, who, in addition 
to his daily work, has used the early morning hours to trans¬ 
form this rocky hill-side into a fruitful flovvei’-crowned pai’adise. 

GREAT VARIETY OF SOIL. 

This county affords almost evei'v imaginable variety of soil, 
and a dozen varieties may be found often within a distance of 
two miles square. As a rule, the nearer the hills the hai'der 
the land, though there are some exceptions. Hog-wallow land 
is generally solid and often gravelly, and the hog-wallows, so- 
called, ai - e most numei'ous nearest the foot-hills. 

One of the large pi-oductions of the county is wheat. Im¬ 
mense fields of this grain are annually harvested, pi’oducing 


thousands of tons of wheat. After the first gold excitement 
came the stock business and then agriculture. 

FOUR INDUSTRIAL PERIODS. 

Thus far the county has experienced three industrial periods. 
First came the mining period, which begun before its organi¬ 
zation, and when a part of Mariposa County, extending to 
1852-54, at the time of the Kern River excitement. 

Second, the stock-raising period, which arose upon the gi'ad- 
ual disappearance of the placer mines, and which, as a general 
industry, except so far as sheep-x’aising is concerned, which yet 
in great part continues, ceased about 1874. 

Third, the farming interest, sprung up about 1868. Prior 
to the advent of the railroad, agriculture amounted to very 
little. Simultaneously with this irrigation was begun, and 
with the enactment of a “no-fence” law, new life was infused 
into farming, and the rapidity with which the industx-y .has 
grown is truly wonderful. 

Tulare County possesses every variety of soil and climate. 
The rich sandy loam is found in great abundance; is easily 
worked and produces almost anything that can be grown in 
the temperate or semi-ti’opical zones. 

The valley may be said to possess no picturesque scenery. 
Like the prairies of the West, it is a vast undulating plain, or 
dead level, with an occasional tree, or paik of oaks, to diversify 
the general monotony. The land is moderately well watered 
by numerous pei’ennial sti - eams and rivers. It is level or 
slightly undulatory, only a few feet above tide water, with an 
occasional low, gravelly knoll, sink, or depression, to diversify 
the general monotony of the landscape. 

THE FOOT-HILLS. 

In the foot-hills, and even in the more rugged and mount¬ 
ainous districts, there ai’e occasional valleys susceptible of cul¬ 
tivation, while the hill-sides and table-lands of the foot¬ 
hill regions are peculiarly well adapted to horticulture, the 
finest fruit in the known world being pi’oduced in the greatest 
profusion along the western slope of the Sierras, many varie¬ 
ties being raised at an altitude of 3,000 feet above the level of 
the sea. 

FIRST IMPRESSION OF THE VALLEY. 

When a stranger travels over the hot and dusty plains of 
this great valley, he is very apt to put the question to himself, 
What is this country good for? The valley is seen to better 
advantage when a wheat harvest has matured. Yet there ai - e 
probably a million acres on which no crops are matured. There 
are gi’eat spaces wind-swept and barren, yet capable of pro¬ 
ducing crops if sufficient water can be had. Now and then 
one comes upon a homestead, a little oasis in the desert. Evei'y- 
thing is fresh and bright. The owner has either constructed 
an artesian well, or has secured water from some irrigating 
ditch. 





1 


I 

I 







£§ 38*2 






SipP 

Up* 


tatw&taS 


3 MILES NORTH OF 


TULARE CITY 


TULARE CO. CAL 


ZUMWALT 


PALACE RANCH. HOME OF J.B 





























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































ORGANIZATION OF TULARE COUNTY. 


101 


Organization of the County. 

An Act of the third Legislature of California, approved April 
20, 1852, provided for the organization of Tulare County, and 
an election for the tirst county officers was held on the 10th 
day of the following July. 

James D. Savage,* John Boling, M. B. Lewis, and H. W. 
McMillen were the Board of Commissioners appointed to hold 
the election, and the following officers were chosen: County 
Judge, Walter H. Harvey;* County Attorney, F. H. Sanford; 
County Clerk, L. D. F. Edwards; County Recorder, A. B. 
Gordon; Sheriff, Wm. Dill; Surveyor, Joseph A. Tiry; Assessor, 
James B. Davis; Coroner, W. H. McMillen; Treasui’er, J. C. 
Frankenberger. 

AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. 

The total population of the county exclusive of Indians, did 
not exceed sixty-five souls, and not one woman among them. 
So remote from centers of population was this new county, 
that long after its legal existence had been established it re¬ 
mained a terra incognita; so much so, in fact, that when 
the first County Treasurer went to the State Capitol to make 
his settlement with the State Treasurer, he was informed by 
that official that he had no knowledge of the existence of such 
a county as Tulare, and the County Treasurer experienced 
considerable difficulty in obtaining recognition. 

A LARGE COUNTY. 

Tulare County at that time comprised the greater part of 
what are now Kern and Inyo Counties, with a portion of what 
is now Fresno County. Tulare did not develop very rapidly 
after its organization, as the vast immigration to this State at 
the time was composed for the most part of gold hunters, and 
the Kern River and other mines had not at that time been 
discovered. 

PROGRESS OF THE COUNTY. 

The population in 1860 was 4,368. In 1870 it was as fol¬ 
lows:— 


Farmersville. 

TOTAL. 

... 807 

NATIVE. 

755 

FORE 

52 

King’s River. 

... 166 

148 

18 

Packwood. 

. . 214 

172 

42 

Tule River. 

. . 1,098 

953 

145 

Tule Indian Reservation. . . 

12 

10 

2 

Venice. 

. . 490 

475 

15 

Visalia. 

. . 1,626 

1,377 

249 

Visalia. 

.. 913 

707 

206 

White River. 

120 

87 

33 

Total.. 


4,684 

762 


The State census of 1880 showed the following as the offi¬ 
cial population of the county by divisions:— 

*Savage was killed by Harvey as heretofore related on page 90. 


Kaweah and Mineral King Townships. . 1,053 


Mussel Slough Township. 1,776 

Lemoore Township. ... 1,744 

Tulare Township. 802 

Tule River Township. 2,282 

White River Township. 96 

Visalia Township (including Visalia City) 2,628 
Visalia City separate. 1,412 


Total of county. 11,280 


EARLY TIMES AND TROUBLES. 

In early days there was a wild, rough population. This was 
a frontier country. The people were all armed against the 
common enemy, the Indian savage and the Mexican freebooter, 
and nearly all disputes were settled at the muzzle of the revol¬ 
ver and the point of the knife, and it is said that of the first 
officers of the county whose names are given above all but 
two met violent deaths in personal rencontres. 

At a later date fierce political contests took place, and the 
office of the Visalia Expositor, a secession sheet, was destroyed 
by the soldiers of Camp Babbitt, March 5, 1863. The editor, 
L. P. Hall, had previously been arrested for disloyalty and re¬ 
leased. 

A political fight occurred at Visalia, August 6th, same year, 
between a party of soldiers and a number of secessionists. 
One soldier was killed and three wounded. Great excitement 
prevailed throughout the community for several days after the 
affair, but it was finally allayed without further bloodshed. 

FIRST COUNTY SEAT. 

The Act of organization designated Woodville, a place five 
miles northeast of Visalia, as the county seat, and on July 10, 
1852, a band of hardy pioneers met at Woodville, held an elec¬ 
tion under an oak tree, and, following the forms of law by their 
acts, gave birth to a new political division of the State, there¬ 
after to be known as Tulare Countv, and elected the first 
county officers. 

In 1854 an election was held to determine whether the future 
county seat should be Woodville or Visalia. At this election 
eighty-five votes were cast, and Visalia, by a majority of four 
votes, was designated as the local seat of j ustice. 

FIRST COURT HOUSE AND JAIL. 

“The first Court House,” says E. Jacobs, “consisted of a small 
log cabin surrounded by a cheap fence. The county jail con¬ 
sisted of five stumps of trees within this inclosure, each with 
an iron ring attached to it by a staple, to which culprits were 
chained for security; the several county officials carrying the 
county records in their hats and pockets. 

“It was then a weak and primitive settlement surrounded 
by overwhelming numbers of half savage Indians, only kept 
in subjugation by the stern and indomitable courage of hardy 
frontiersmen. 

“Then, means of communication with the marts of com- 






























102 


PERMANENT LOCATION OF COUNTY SEAT. 


merce was the slow moving ox-team; now, the railroad is at 
the door affording rapid transportation to all parts of this 
great country. Then, they had no postal facilities and at least 
a month was consumed in exchange of correspondence with 
the great metropolis of the State as well as the State capital, by 
theordinary mode by which letters wereconveyed; now, twenty- 
four hours yield the same results, and if so desired the trained 
lightning, annihilating time and space, obeys behests. Then, the 
primitive log cabin, or at least a brush shed, sheltered the settler 
and his family; now, on every side we see comfortable and 
elegant residences, evidencing wealth and prosperity. Then, 
the virgin soil of this fertile valley had not felt the aggressive 
art of the husbandman; now, orchards, vineyards, broad fields 
and groaning granaries are mute monuments of the capabili¬ 
ties of that soil. Then, the silence of nature held sway almost 
throughout the whole length and breadth of fair Tulare; now, 
the busy hum of industry greets the ears in whatever direc¬ 
tion you may turn, giving, as it were, happy greetings from 
happy homes.” 

NEW COURT HOUSE ERECTED. 

The Board of Supervisors met in special session on Monday. 
April 10, 1876, for the purpose of receiving and adopting 
plans for building a new Court House and jail. 

Plans and specifications were presented by A. A. Bennett, 
Esq., and Messrs. Kenitzer and Raun, of San Francisco, and 
Charles Pressler and A. Beyer, of Visalia; and the Board, 
after canvassing the same, ordered that the plan and specifica¬ 
tions presented by A. A. Bennett, Esq., be accepted. 

Ordered—That the Clerk procure forthwith 200 county 
bonds, to be issued in accordance with Fie Act of the Legisla¬ 
ture, to provide for the building of a Court House and jail. 

Ordered—That bonds to the amount of $20,000, of the 
denomination of $500 each, be issued in accordance with said 
Act, and notice be given of the sale thereof by publication in 
the San Francisco evening Bulletin and daily Examiner, and 
the Tulare weekly Times, and Visalia weekly Delta, until 
Monday, May 29, 1876. 

Ordered—That notice by publication be given, that on Sat¬ 
urday, May 6, 1876, the old Court House and jail will be 
offered for sale at public auction, and that proposals will be 
received at the same time for furnishing suitable rooms for 
county offices and a court room. 

Bids for building a Court House and jail in Visalia were 
received and opened in June by the Board of Supervisors; the 


bids are as follows:— 

Albert Washburne.$68,772 

Hall & Kelley. 72,800 

Power, Ough & Warner. 73,230 

Carl & Crowley. 74,491 

Stevens & Childers. 59,700 

James H. Sullivan. 74,846 

M. C. Smith. 74,715 

A. Byer. 71,877 

Weishar & Switzer. 63,840 


Each bid was accompanied with a check of $2,000, accord¬ 
ing to requirement. Stevens & Childers’ bid being the lowest, 
the Board awarded the contract accordingly, June, 1876. 

Sheriff Wingfield sold the Court House and jail at Vis ilia, 
May 6th. A. H. Glasscock secured the Court House for 
$682.50, and R. E. Hyde purchased the jail for $225. 

The county officers occupied the hall until the completion 
of the new Court House. 

FIGHT OVER COURT HOUSE. 

The erection of a new Court House, and consequent perma¬ 
nent location of county seat, at Visalia, naturally drew out 
considerable opposition from other localities. A meeting was 
held at the Court House, and called to order by Mr. Fairbanks, 
from Tipton. C. W. Clark was nominated as chairman, and E. 
T. Buckman, of Tulare, was appointed as Secretary. 

On motion of A. T. Cotton, the chair appointed the com¬ 
mittee, consisting of A. T. Cotton, Mr. Fairbanks, A. Fletcher, 
L. A. Pratt, anil I. N. Wright, who introduced the following:— 

“Whereas, We gladly embrace this opportunity of raiding 
our voice against the manipulations and wire-workings of 
scheming and designing men, who are fast bringing the poli¬ 
tics of our country into disrepute, and making of our boasted 
democracy a myth and a laughing stock; and whereas, it is 
with dread that we look forward to where we are drifting, and 
are fully persuaded that the time for action has now arrived; 
inasmuch as already the masses are looked upon and treated 
as serfs to do the bidding of and pay homage to their political 
masters, who in turn make cheap promises to the people, in 
order to secure large profits to themselves; and whereas, we 
recognize in the matter of the Tulare County Court House 
Legislation fresh and glaring evidence of corruption, and a 
strong desire to tyrannize over and outwit the people; and in 
various articles in the organ of the Court House upon this sub¬ 
ject, we observe a disposition to insult and to injury, therefore, 

“Resolved, That we consider the various bills passed by the 
last Legislature of our State, in relation to the Court House in 
this county, and the removal of county seats, as an outrage on 
the majority in the county, and in violation of the Constitut'on 
of the State and of the United States. 

“ Resolved, By the tax-payers of Tulare County to-day rep¬ 
resented in convention, that we will make an effort to assert 
our right to be taxed, and our consent thereto obtained, as 
expressed in the usual way by the ballot. 

“ Resolved, That we look upon the method whereby the said 
Court House bill became a law, as subversive of the rights of 
the people, as wrong in principle, and as outrageous in fact. 

“ Resolved, Tiiat the principles involved in the said Court 
House bill enables the minority to oppress and enslave the 
majority, to tax their property without their consent for the 
purpose of enhancing the wealth of the few at the expense of 
the many. 

“ Resolved, That the building of a new Court House at the 
time was wholly unnecessary and uncalled for, and is believed 
to be a part of a system of plunder whereby a few designing 
men may rob the people for their own benefit. 

“ Resolved, That we will use all and every legal means 














ERECTION OF NEW COUNTY COURT HOUSE 


103 


within our power to defeat the operations of said Court House 
bill, until an expression of the will of a majority of the tax¬ 
payers of this county can be had at the next election for repre¬ 
sentatives. 

“ Resolved , That any and all loss or inconvenience resulting 
from the premature pulling down of the old Court House, lies 
at the door of the authors of the iniquitous Court House Bill. 

DEDICATION OF COURT HOUSE. 

Notwithstanding considerable opposition, the work proceeded, 
and the new building was dedicated October 27, 1876. 

Various organizations participated in the solemn ceremonies, 
which were conducted by the Most Worthy Grand Master oi 
the Grand Lodge of F. and A. M. 

John Mills Browne, was presented by the citizens of Visalia 
with a handsome and elegantly engraved silver trowel, as a 
token of respect and an appreciation of his highly honored 
position and services. 

A highly interesting address was delivered by E. Jacobs, 
Esq. 

The following is a list of the articles deposited in the corner 
stone:— 

LIST OF ARTICLES. 

Roll of officers and members of Visalia Lodge, No. 128, F. and A. M., and 
a copy of their by-laws. 

Proceedings of Grand Lodge of F. and A. M. of California. 

List of officers and members, and copy of by-laws of Damascus Encampment, 
No. 44, I. O. of 0. F. 

List of officers and members of Four Creeks’ Lodge, No. 94, I. 0. of 0. F. 

Holy Bible, presented by I. N. Matlick. 

By-laws and members of Visalia Chapter, No. 44, R. A. M., and one trade- 
dollar, half-dollar, and twenty cents. 

Constitution of U. S. of America, in manuscript, by A. Beyer. 

Copy of Regulations of School Laws and of School Libraries, by W. A. 
Wash. 

Copy of California Revised School Laws, by W. J. Ellis. 

Announcement of Visalia Normal School, September 4, 1876, by McPliail & 
Orr. 

Copy of Tulare Weekly Times of October 28, 1876, containing a fine picture 
of the Court House as it will appear when finished, and a description of the 
several rooms. 

Copy of Visalia Weekly Delta of October 28, 1876. 

" Copy of Visalia Iron Age of October 25, 1876. 

Copy of Great Register of Tulare County, California, for the year 1876. 

Poster and programme of the Centennial celebration on the 4th day of 
July, 1876, at Tulare City, California. 

One redwood knot of the largest redwood tree of Tulare County, forty-three 
feet in diameter, three hundred feet in height, by Geo. Kraft. 

A piece of silver ore from the Emma Mine of Tulare County, by Geo. Kraft. 

One ten-dollar note of the late Confederate States of America, by Geo. 
Kraft. 

One Prussian silver dollar, by R. Broder and Leon Jacob. 

Two phials of wheat grown in 1876, by E. Jacob. 

One $20 gold piece, 1873, by E, Jacob. 

One $5 gold note, First National San Francisco Gold Bank, 1870, by E. 
Jacob. 

One one dollar currency note, by E. J acob. 

One twenty-five cents currency, by E. Jacob. 

Nine foreign coins, San Francisco Journal of Commerce, October 2b, by E. 
Jacob. 

One trade dollar and a number of foreign coins, by Dr. Davenport. 

Copy of the Ulster County Gazette, published in Ulster County, New York, 
in the year 1800, January 9th, containing an account of the death of Gen. 
George Washington, by P. H. Martin. 


VIEW OF THE COURT HOUSE. 

We present to our readers, as a frontispiece, a fine page view 
of this grand building which is 60x95 feet, with a wing on 
either side 12x31 feet, exclusive of breaks, porticoes, and all 
other projections; basement 12 feet; main story 15 feet. The 
district court room 22 feet; county court room 22 feet; upper 
corridor, clerk’s office, 17 feet. The balance of the rooms in 
the upper story, 17 feet. 

For the brick-work, excavations were made for foundations 
3 feet 6 inches, below the average surface of the ground; the 
main walls have 7 feet foundation. The main walls, two 
bricks piers up to the top of the pedestal wall, eight inches 
additional; pilasters four inches to top of cornice; vault walls 
21 inches; inside partition 13 inches, front piers and columns 
21x24. 

Penryn Granite sills and steps are at front and rear, leading 
to basement; all the outside door-sills are 8 inches thick. All 
stone-work is of bush hammered work and same set in cement. 

A jail is in a part of the basement, as well as some of the 
offices for county use. 

Messrs. A. L. Stephens and Arnold Childers, of Sonoma 
County, were the contractor's, and A. A. Bennett, Esq., of San 
Francisco, architect. 

COURT HOUSE BONDS ISSUED. 

By the Court House Act the Board of Supervisors were 
“ authorized and directed to issue the bonds of the county to 
an amount not exceeding $75,000; all bonds to be payable 
twenty years from the date of their issuance, with interest at 
the rate of ten per cent, per annum, payable annually on the 
second Monday in January in each year; both principal and 
interest to be made payable in U. S. gold coin only. The 
bonds shall be issued in denominations of $500 each, and shall 
be signed by the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors and 
County Clerk. Interest coupons s .all be attached and signed 
in like manner. The Supervisors shall issue $20,000 of the 
bonds within sixty days after the passage of this Act, and 
shall issue the remaining amount of $55,000 of the bonds 
from time to time at such times as shall be necessary to pro¬ 
vide funds for the progress of the construction of the Court 
House and jail, provided for in this Act, and for the payment 
of claims to become due therefor. All bonds issued under the 
provisions of this Act may be paid and discharged by said 
county at any time after ten years from their respective dates, 
which right of payment and discharge shall be specified in 
each bond. 

“ All moneys derived from the sale of the bonds shall be set 
apart as a ‘Court House Building Fund,’ and shall be applied, 
laid out, and expended in the building of and constructing a 
Court House with jail in the city of Visalia, in Tulare County 
said building to be erected in the present Court House square, 





104 


LOCATION AND SIZE OF TULARE COUNTY. 


and the necessary county offices in and for said county, and 
furnishing the same, and improving the Court House grounds. 

“For the purpose of paying the interest on the bonds, the 
Supervisors shall, at the time of levying the county taxes for 
each year, levy a special tax on all property in the county, 
sufficient to pay the interest on all bonds then outstanding, as 
the same shall fall due. The special tax thus levied shall be 
assessed and collected as other county taxes are assessed and 
collected, and be set apart as a special fund, to be known as 
the ‘Court House Bond Interest Fund,’and out of this fund 
the coupons on the bonds shall be paid as they fall due. 

“ In and for the year 1886 and each year thereafter until the 
whole of the bonds are paid, the Board of Supervisors shall 
levy and cause to be collected a tax sufficient to pay ten per 
cent, of the whole issue of the bonds, and the tax thus levied 
and collected shall be set apart as a special fund, to be known 
as the ‘ Court House, Bond, and Redemption Fund.’ ” 

COUNTY BOUNDARY DISPUTES. 

In 1857, the County Surveyor, 0. M. Brown, of Fresno, 
was authorized to run the line dividing Fresno from Tulare, 
Mariposa, and Merced Counties. 

August, 1856, Hewlett Clark and James Smith of Fresno, 
were appointed a committee, to meet a like number of com¬ 
mitteemen from Tulare, Merced, and Mariposa Counties, to 
adjust the boundary lines between said counties. 

About 1859-60, an effort was made to attach a large portion 
of Fresno County to Tulare, but the citizens of Fresno gener¬ 
ally fought hard against the proposition, and it was defeated. 

The surveyors of the boundary line between Tulare and 
Fresno Counties discovered the fact that several parties who 
were supposed to have been residents of Fresno belonged to 
Tulare. Among whom were K. W. Jones, near the Coast 
Range; Joseph, William and Lemuel Harp, and James Hodges, 
near Kingsburg; Jesse Loudy, north of Laguna de Tache; 
L. R. Beard, above the railroad, on the Fresno side of King’s 
River; H. D. Brewer, on south side of the river, below Kings¬ 
ton. The line crosses King’s River at the head of the Last 
Chance Ditch. 

The commission appointed by the Legislature to ascertain 
the amount due Tulare County from Kern were as follows: 
E. Jacob and R. Nichols for Tulare, and W. L. Kenneday and 
E. E. Calhoun for Kern County. 

After the gold fever allayed and the immigrants started 
into agriculture, it was found that the soil of Tulare was 
remarkably productive and so farming began to be carried on 
quite extensively. 



Size of the County. 

From data furnished bv the gentlemanly and efficient 
Receiver, Hon. Tipton Lindsey, at the Land Office at Visalia, 
we make the area of the county estimated at 4,000,000 acres. 
This is probably to be divided about as follows:— 

Area of Tulare Lake, 300,000 acres; area of valley lands, 
1,700,000 acres; area of mountain lands, 1,000,000 acres; 
area of foot-hill lands, 1,000,000 acres; total, 4,000,000 acres. 

There are in the county of unsold lands on the plains exclu¬ 
sive of all railroad lands probably 400,000 acres. Of the 
foot-hill lands about one-half have been sold, and of the 
mountain lands but little have been disposed of. 

“There is a large extent of country,” says the Delta , “to 
the north and east of Visalia—probably not less than 200,000 
acres—that requires very little water for irrigation; in fact, 
that to the east of the town is swamp land, and would require 
drainage rather than irrigation. These lands are particularly 
adapted to blackberries, strawberries, fruits, and vines. They 
are held, mostly, by not to exceed four or five men. Were 
they subdivided into small tracts and disposed of at say $40.00 
per acre, within the next two years it would add a large popu¬ 
lation of industrious and thriving people. We would call the 
attention of capitalists on the outside to these lands, and invite 
an inspection.” 

AMOUNT AND KIND OF LAND. 

From information kindly furnished us by the Register at the 
Visalia Land Office, we learn that “ The Visalia land district 
embraces Fresno, Tulare, and Kern Counties. These counties 
are a great level valley with the Sierra Nevada Mountains on 
the east and the Coast Range od the west. They contain more 
than 5,000.000 acres of level land and more than 2,500,000 
acres of mountain and foot-hill land. 

“ Through the center of these counties, north and south,, 
runs the Southern Pacific Railroad. The odd numbered sec¬ 
tions of land for twenty miles on each side of this road belong 
to the railroad company. The even numbered sections of 
Government land within these limits are held at $2.50 per 
acre. The Government land outside of these limits is $1.25 
per acre. None of the Government lands are subject to pri¬ 
vate entry; they can be obtained only by pre-emption and 
homestead settlers. 

“ There is,” says J. D. Hyde, Register, “ more or less vacant 
Government land in almost every township in this district, 
amounting in the aggregate to many thousands of acres. A large 
portion of these vacant lands are good, and are capable of pro¬ 
ducing, with proper cultivation, all the products of the soil of 
the temperate and semi-tropical zones. Much of this vacant 
land is as good in quality as private lands in the district worth 
$25.00 per acre; but these private lands have been increased in 





























































































DESCRIPTION OF PRINCIPAL RANCHES. 


105 


value by cultivation and means for irrigation. Facilities are 
at hand to make the public lands equally valuable. 

“Inquiries are often made for maps of vacant lands. We 
have no such maps to offer; nor would they be of much use if 
we had. The district is so large that to describe the vacant 
lands intelligibly would require many maps, and to give a 
general idea of the locality would be no better information 
than could be got from a good school atlas. But there are 
plenty of vacant lands in this district, and a settler cannot fail 
to find such as will suit him.” 

DESCRIPTION OF PRINCIPAL RANCHES. 

The following is a brief description of the principal ranches 
of Tulare County, furnished us by E. O. Miller, Searcher of 
Records, who has the only complete set of abstract records in 
the county. He also has a valuable collection of maps and 
surveys. Titles to any land examined and abstracts promptly 
prepared. He is also interested in the real estate business, and 
will buy and sell land on commission:— 

Murphy Ranch, 2,720 acres; situated on Tule River about 
thirty miles from Visalia; is well watered, and is choice 
land, adapted to the raising of orchard and vineyard. Title, 
State swamp land. Owned by the estate of Daniel Murphy. 

“L. C.,” 5,425 acres. Title, U. S. Patents and State patent; 
situated about ten miles south of Visalia; abundance of water 
and choice land; present owner, George D. Bliss. 

Creighton Ranch, 5,200 acres; situated in the artesian 
belt, about eight miles southwest of Tulare; is watered by 
artesian wells and Elk Bavou, a stream which has living 
water; is level land and well adapted to alfalfa and stock- 
raising. Present owner, J. M. Creighton. 

Harrell Ranch, 3,640 acres; situated on the head of Cross 
Creek, about six miles north of Visalia; is well watered, and 
1,500 acres in cultivation. This is the finest tract of its size 
in the county. Title to most of the tract is U. S.'Patent, part 
State swamp title. Part of the land is in litigation. Present 
owner, Jasper Harrell. 

Pogue Ranch, 3,800 acres; situated about eighteen miles 
east of Visalia; is farmed and cultivated. Is watered by the 
Kaweah River. Title is U. S. Patent and State school land; 
owned by J. W. C. Pogue and the heirs of Wm. H. Wallace, 
deceased. 

Paige & Morton Ranch, 4,705 acres; situated about four 
miles west of Tulare; is in a fine state of cultivation, and is 
watered by the waters of Packwood Creek and two artesian 
wells. Title, U. S. and State Patents; owned by James 
Morton and Timothy Paige. 

Laurel Farm, 1,440 acres; situated about four miles west of 
Tulare; farmed and cultivated and is in an excellent state of 
cultivation; is irrigated by canals and artesian wells. The 


title is U. S. and State Patents, and is owned by John F. 
Uhlhorn and P. W. Maples. 

Thorton Ranch, about 5,000 acres; situated on King’s River; 
is irrigated land, and well cultivated; it produces small grain 
and alfalfa; is irrigated by the water of King’s River. Is owned 
by David Burris. 

Markham Ranch, 3,500 acres; situated on Cross Creek 
about ten miles west of Visalia. Title U. S. and State Patents. 
Owned by Damoetas Markham. 

Heinlen Ranch, about 4,400 acres; situated in the south¬ 
west portion of the county near Lemoore on King’s River. 
Title, State Swamp Land. Owned by John Heinlen. 

Fisher Ranch, about 800 acres; situated about six miles 
northeast of Visalia well improved and cultivated, abundance 
of water. Title, U. S. Patent. Owned by James Fisher. 

Waterloo Ranch, 800 acres; situated on Tule River, about 
eighteen miles southeast of Visalia; farmed and cultivated, 
choice lands, and well adapted to small grain. Title, U. S. and 
State Patent. Present owner, John W. Jones. 

RIVERS AND STREAMS OF TULARE. 

The county is blessed with numerous and very valuable 
streams which supply an abundance of water. 

Four Creeks was the nam3 that portion of the country was 
known by in primitive days. Seven Creeks would have been 
a more appropriate name, from the fact it would have included 
the entire number of streams running through the valley. 
There are Southeast, Outside, Deep, Cameron, Packwood, and 
Dry Creek, while on the north are the St. John and Elbow 
Creeks, making seven streams, so well arranged for the distri¬ 
bution of the mountain waters that settlers have utilized these 
channels for irrigating purposes. At a point on the Kaweah, 
known as the Rocky Ford, Messrs. Bacon & Crossmore ex¬ 
pended a large sum of money in turning a portion of that 
stream into Packwood Creek, which during the repeated dry 
seasons had dried up. 

KERN RIVER. 

Kern River rises near the 37th degree north latitude, and runs 
due south in Tulare County and for more than a hundred miles, 
between two parallel ranges of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
befoi’e turning west toward the valley. It drains 2,000 
square miles of mountain region, which in all ordinary 
winters are within the snow belt, but it often happens that 
during a very warm storm rain would fall in the winter-time 
upon more than one-half of all this area; so that one warm 
rain is liable to turn loose much of the water of several pre¬ 
vious storms. This was the case in 1862 and again in 1868. 

To shield the low land of Kern County from these extraordi¬ 
nary freshets, Haggin &; Carr undertook to shove the waters of 
Kern River out upon the dry desert which skirts the eastern 
base of the Coast Range, and with that end in view constructed 






106 


DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS. 


a monster levee some fifteen feet high, and about thirty miles 
long. It is believed to be much more possible to carry these 
waters to the west of Tulare Lake by the same method a.s the 
desert there is broader and smoother. 

DESCRIPTION OF KING’S RIVER. 

King’s Rivei’, when we consider its size, position, and the 
area of the country within the region of perpetual snow which 
it drains, as well as that on the plains which it is capable of 
supplying with water for irrigation, together with the fact 
that it is not navigable, nor a tributary to any of the rivers 
which ai’e, may justly be regarded as one of the most impor¬ 
tant and valuable rivers in the State. 

It has a drainage area of about 1,855 square miles in the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains and foot-hills, where the river leaves 
the hill country and enters the Centerville bottoms, nearly half 
of which is situated within the snow belt. 

It flows in a southwesterly direction from the mountains to 
Tulare Lake, and its general course is quite direct, with but 
few abrupt turns in its meanderings. 

It has not a single perennial tributai'y from the foot-hills 
to Tulai'e Lake, a distance of about sixty-two miles; and the 
only sti’eam of any note which empties into it is Wahtoke 
Ci’eek, on the left, just above Smith’s Ferry. 

CHARACTER OF ITS CHANNEL. 

Where it leaves the foot-hills, all the water flows in a single 
well-defined channel, while, in its passage through the Center¬ 
ville bottoms, its waters ai'e divided into several channels for 
a distance of about foui'teen miles. Thei’e it is again all col¬ 
lected and confined to a single deep and tortuous channel, the 
bed of which is from sixty-five to twenty feet below the plains 
on either side. 

PracticaUv this portion of the river has no valley or bottom¬ 
lands, the high bluffs encroaching generally upon the margin 
of the river. Here and thei'e the bluffs x’ecede, and the river is 
fringed with a nai’row belt of alluvial deposit, covered with a 
scanty gi'owth of oak trees and vines. This condition is main¬ 
tained to the head of Cole Slough, a short distance below the San 
Joaquin Valley Railroad, where its waters are again divided, 
the greater portion passing northward, down Cole Slough, and 
the rest along the old river channels spi-eading into a delta¬ 
like swamp between Tulare Lake and the San Joaquin River. 

DESCRIPTION OF KING’S RIVER CHANNEL. 

In the Upper King’s River all the water during the different 
stages flows in a single well-defined trough or channel, with 
bottom and sides composed of large bowlders, intermixed with 
cobble-stones, coai’se gravel, and sand, in such proportions and 
manner as to present a comparatively even and regular surface, 
which offei’s but little resistance to the free flow of water. 
This particular formation continues for several miles down the 
river, when the large bowlders disappear almost entii’ely, and 


the bottoms and sides of the numerous channels into which the 
river is divided are composed of large cobble-stones, intermixed 
with coarse gravel and sand. This latter formation extends 
for several miles further down the river, to a point about mid¬ 
way between the upper and lower end of the Centerville 
bottoms, where the large cobble-stones in turn disappear, and 
the river bed is composed of small cobbles, coai’se gravel, and 
sand, which changes gradually until the lower end of the 
Centerville bottom is reached, where the material of which the 
bottom of the river channel is composed is almost exclusively 
coarse gravel and sand. 

From this point clear through to Tulai’e Lake there are but 
few if any localities where anything but coai’se gravel and 
sand is to be found in the river bottom, while the sides, 
particularly below ’the San Joaquin Valley Railroad Bridge, 
ai’e composed of clay and sedimentary matter, inteiunixed with 
a gravelly alluvial deposit, which is unable to resist the abraid- 
ing force of the current of the river, especially in the bends 
and at high water, and is constant^ 7 being undermined, large 
portions of it frequently caving in. 

HIGH WATER PERIODS. 

King’s River, like all the large rivers of the State heading 
high up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, has tw r o “ high. 
w T ater” periods in each year. The first usually occurs in 
December, after the l-ains have set in, continues through Jan¬ 
uary, is known as the winter rise, and is caused pi’incipally by 
the rains. The second, which commences about the last of 
April or first of May, after the rains are over, and continues 
through June and part of July, is produced by the melt¬ 
ing snow, and is of longer duration than the winter rise. The 
river generally keeps up between the two rises some one to 
two feet above its lowest stage. 

After the second or spring rise, as it is usually called, the 
river gradually falls to the low-water stage, which it main¬ 
tains through August, September, Octobei’, and a part of 
November, or until the winter rise sets in. 

The time of the greatest demand for water for irrigation is 
fortunately during the winter and spring rises, wdien the river 
is capable of supplying, during ordinary years, all the w r ater 
needed for the irrigation of lands at present prepared to 
receive it, and furnished with canals for its diversion and dis¬ 
tribution. 

THE TULE RIVER. 

Tule River enters the valley in Tulai’e County, about eight¬ 
een miles from the southern boundary thereof, and its channel 
extends westerly down a plain sloping from twenty to two 
feet per mile, a distance of thirty miles, to Lake Tulare. The 
lands through which it runs are generally sandy; its bed is 
upon a loose deposit of sand, and its waters seldom reach far 
into the plain befoi’e being swallowed up in this great mass of 
dry detritus. In particularly wet seasons, and through the 





DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL RIVERS. 


107 


months of spring, when there has been heavy snow-fall during 
the preceding winter, Tule River water reaches Tulare Lake 
above ground for several weeks, or months even, at a time; 
but this does not occur sometimes for a series of years. 

THE KAWEAH RIVER. 

The Kaweah River enters Tulare County from jthe Sierra 
Nevada Mountains, and runs westerly to Tulare Lake. The 
county maps spell this name as it is here spelled, but a Span¬ 
ish gentleman with our party declared that the proper orthog¬ 
raphy is Cahuilla, a word which signities in the Castilian 
tongue, “ Indian.” The delta of this river commences, as it 
were, within the foot-hills, seeing that the mouth of its canon 
is filled with detritus of its own production and depositing, for 
several miles above the edge of the plains, and the river 
spreads through the uncertain and obstructed channels of a 
swamp, almost before it has left its rock-bound course through 
a mountain canon. Thus, although the Kaweah is a some¬ 
what more reliable source of supply than Tule River, because 
it has a larger and a higher drainage area, yet a gr’eat portion 
of its waters are also lost in the depths of the sands, gravel, 
and light alluvial soil with which it has built up the plain for 
many square miles in front of its point of emergence from the 
mountains. 

DELTA OF THE KAWEAH. 

This is the Kaweah Delta. From the canon above Wutch- 
umna Point to Tulare Lake it is thirty-nine miles in length 
falling in that distance from an elevation of 520 feet above 
low water in the ocean, to the plane of the lake, about 190 
feet above the same level. In the upper portion its grade is at 
points as much as thirty feet per mile, alternated by compara¬ 
tively flat and swampy tracts heavily overgrown with trees 
and underbrush. Near the lake the plain falls only two or 
three feet per mile, and without irrigation is dry and barren. 

CHANNELS OF THE KAWEAH. 

Down this sloping delta plain the Kaweah flood-waters find 
their way through eight or ten channels whose beds are upon 
deep sand deposits, particularly near the mountains, and which 
occasionally are lost altogether in some swampy tract—the 
waters partially emerging below into another channel under 
some other name. About half way down the plain from Cross 
Creek on the extreme north, to Outside Creek on the opposite 
border, the width of the delta is eighteen miles, but these 
channels approach each other lower down and enter Tulare 
Lake only about ten miles apart. 

TWO GREAT FLOODS. 

Since the settlement of the plains, and beginning of farming 
along King’s River, there have been two great floods, the first 
occuring during the winter of 1861-62, and the second during 
the winter of 1867-68, being occasioned in each instance by 
excessive rain-fall during the winter months. During each 


flood the Centerville bottom was overflowed, and large quan¬ 
tities of driftwood deposited there. From the lower end of 
the Centerville bottom to a point a short distance above the 
San Joaquin Valley Railroad crossing, all the water during 
each of these floods was confined to the river channel. From 
the railroad crossing through to Tulare Lake, the country along 
the river on both sides was more or less flooded. 

What is now known as Cole Slough, which carries a large 
portion of the waters of the river, was opened by the flood of 
1861-62, and enlarged to its present size by that of 1867-68. 
The effect of diverting through this slough the greater portion 
of the water of the river during ordinary stages, and all dur¬ 
ing the period of low water, has been the gradual filling up of 
the old river channel with sand for several miles below the 
point of diversion, thereby reducing its carrying capacity, and 
at the same time producing an increase in the elevation of its 
flood line. 

The flood of 1867-68 produced a rise in the river at the 
foot-hills of 17.5 feet above low water of 1878, while at the 
San Joaquin Valley Railroad Bridge it rose 17.3 feet, and at 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge, or Tulare Lake, 11.8 feet, 
as indicated by the most reliable high-water marks of the 
flood that could be found. 


irrigation in Tulare County. 

Only a few years ago it was the general impression that 
irrigation could not make any material improvement in the 
wealth of this part of the State. It was said in the first place 
that the plains were destitute of plant-food for the most of the 
vegetable growths the farmer hoped to raise by irrigation; 
and right well does the writer remember when many were of 
the opinion that fruit trees, Indian corn, and garden vegetables 
could not be grown on the plains from the simple fact that the 
soil was said to be destitute of food for such plants. Again, 
it was said the action of the water, under the influence of the 
sun, would destroy the substance of the soil; and another belief 
was that when water was put upon the land it would produce 
such an amount of chills and fever that people could not afford, 
to live in the irrigated districts. 

Gradually these errors have been exploded, irrigating ditches 
have been made to checker the land in every direction, cities, 
have sprung up on these dry plains, and fields of waving grain 
meet the eye wherever any system of irrigation has been 
adopted, and the most delicious fruit to be found in the world 
is produced on these irrigated lands with the least effort; 
besides this, the health of the plains is nearly as good as it was 
before the days of irrigation. The people of this part of the 
State are fast getting over their prejudices against irrigation. 






108 


IRRIGATION IN' TULARE COUNTY. 


THE LACK OF IRRIGATION. 

The problem of irrigation in this great valley is not yet 
clearly solved. There are irrigated farms which are wonder¬ 
fully pi'oductive. There are twenty-acre homesteads and small 
farms covered with vineyards and orchards. But these are 
exceptional places. The great plains are not irrigated. The 
systems of irrigation which prevail are local. They belong 
to neighborhoods. No broad and comprehensive system has 
been established. Water-rights have been sold to go with land 
which convey more than four times the entire quantity run¬ 
ning in the streams. King’s River, Kern, Kaweah, and other 
streams send immense volumes of water into the thirsty plain- 
A great deal of this water is wasted, and a great deal sinks 
before it reaches Tulare Lake. 

Enough water comes down from the western slope of the 
Sierra to irrigate the entire valley. Yet, under the hap-hazard 
methods of using water, it is doubtful if one-fourth of this area 
will ever be artificially watered. In some places in winter in 
the mountains the snow in canons is fifty feet deep, in others 
five to ten feet. There are patches of open ground where the 
sun has full play. If there were no trees on the western slope 
of the Sierra, this great body of snow would go down to the 
plains early in the season, creating destructive floods, followed 
by the most desolating aridity. 

IRRIGATION IN MUSSEL SLOUGH DISTRICT. 

That portion of the Mussel Slough country which is now 
under cultivation by irrigation and supplied with water by 
the present canal system, is located almost entirely in Tulare 
County. 

It is bounded on the north and west by King’s River, on the 
south by the swamp and overflowed boundary line along 
Tulare Lake, and on the east by Cross Creek and the San 
Joaquin Valley Railroad, and contains 155,000 acres. 

The general slope of the Mussel Slough country is from 
King’s River, in a southwesterly direction, to Tulare Lake, and 
all of the canals and old water-courses and sloughs follow the 
slope of the country, and tend towards the lake, into which 
they discharge their surplus waters during the irrigation 
seasons. 

The light, sandy, and friable nature of the surface-soils, 
together with the exceedingly porous character of the sub-soils, 
which permit to a remarkable degree the free passage of water, 
acting: at the same time as a filter to retain all its silt and other 
fertilizing qualities, has rendered it possible, to the present 
time, t,o irrigate this entire district by what is commonly 
known as seepage or percolation. 

As frequent or constant application of water, either by 
flooding or percolation, always compacts and hardens the soil, 
it is possible that at no very distant day the free passage of 
water by seepage will, to a great degree, stop, and render irri¬ 


gation by flooding necessary over a large portion of the land 
where it is now accomplished by seepage. 

CANALS OF MUSSEL SLOUGH DISTRICT. 

Mussel Slough country is at present supplied with water 
for irrigation from King's River direct, and from the Kaweah 
River thi'ough St. Johns River and Cross Creek. 

There are five canals which divert the waters of the former, 
and two of those of the latter, in all seven, which constitute 
the present canal system of this district. 

The aggregate length of the five canals and their main 
branches, which take their supply from King’s River, is 110 
miles. 

The aggregate length of the two canals and their main 
branches, which take their supply from the Kaweah River, is 
fifty-five miles. 

For the first several miles along the channel of each canal 
no water is diverted for irrigation, owing to the fact that the 
beds of the canals are so far below the surface of the surround¬ 
ing country as to render it impossible to raise their waters to 
the surface and divert them for irrigation. 

Allowing say four miles to each of the five canals, there are 
twenty miles of the most expensive portions of each canal, 
together with their headgates and dams in the river, which 
could have been avoided had a proper plan for irrigating this 
district been decided upon in the beginning, and all the inter¬ 
ests and water rights united in building one large canal, lead¬ 
ing out from the river at some point above the head of Cole 
Slough, or near The foot-hills. 

The following table gives the number of canals, as well as 
showing the number of acres and kind of crops raised by irri¬ 
gation in Mussel Slough country, during one irrigation season:— 

TABLE. 


Acres in Cultivation—and in what Cultivated. 


Names of Canals. 

Wheat... 

Barley .... 

Alfalfa.... 

Corn. 

Beans. 

Potatoes.. . 

Vegetables. 

Orchard ... 

Vineyard. . 

03 

"cS 

-*-> 

o 

H 

Forest. 

People’s Ditch. 

9,159 

985 

1,173 

547 ! 15H 

47i 

31 

87 

5 

72 12,340 

Mussel Slough. 

1,270 

255 

56 

75 


4 

4 

3 


. . | 1,685 

Last Chance. 

6.79S 

2,133 

2,330 

282 

i-42^ 

29 

40 

57 

34 

16 12,040 

King’s River. 

5,063 

587 

342 

15 

5 


41 

15 

12 

. .. 6,084 

Rhodes’ Ditch. 

1,05S 

240 

371 

65 


i 

8 

22 

10 

... 1,775 

Totals. 

23,34S 

4,200 

4,272 

984 

299 

81 

124 

184 

61 

88 33,924 

Settlers' Ditch. 

5,684 

919 

616 

217 

14 

14 

28 

52 

16 

71 7,779 

Lake Side. 

3,571 

607 

773 

290 

51 

1 

5 

25 

18 

63 5,564 

Totals .. 

9,255 

1,526 

1,389 

507 

65 

15 

33 

77 

34 

134 13,343 

Grand Totals.... 

32,603 

5,726 

5,661 

1,491 

364 

96 

157 

261 

95 

222i 47,267 


It will be seen by the preceding table that the total 
number of acres irrigated by the five canals from King’s River 
(those first named in the table), was 33,921, of which there are 
4,272 acres planted in alfalfa. 
















































































EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION ON THE SOIL. 


109 


The total number of acres irrigated by the two canals from 
the Kaweah was 13,343, of which thei'e are 1,389 acres in 
alfalfa, making a total of 47,2(37 acres cultivated by irrigation 
in the Mussel Slough country during 1878. 

Deducting the number of acres of land now under cultivation 
by irrigation from the 115,000 acres which are estimated as 
the total area susceptible of irrigation, we have 73,000 acres 
yet to be provided with water and the necessary facilities for 
its distribution. There is at this date probably only about 
50,000 acres without irrigation. • 

PREPARATION OF THE GROUND. 

In the Mussel Slough country, where irrigation is accom¬ 
plished almost entirely by seepage or percolation, and where 
the general surface of the ground in its natural condition is 
more or less even, the irrigatoi’s have as a rule paid but little, 
if any, attention to the preparation of the land for cultivation 
by irrigation, although it is apparent in localities where the 
land is naturally even and uniform, that the whole surface 
becomes more evenly and uniformly wetted up, and the crops 
therefore are a'so, in a corresponding degree, found to give a 
more satisfactory average yield per acre. 

That portion of the Mussel Slough country which has been 
under constant cultivation since the introduction of water into 
the country for irrigation, has, by the frequent plowing and 
harrowing necessary in the preparation of the ground for seed¬ 
ing and the cultivation of the crops, become, in a great degree, 
as smooth of surface as is probably necessary where flooding is 
not resorted to for the purpose of watering the crops. 

COST OF WATER AND PRICE OF LAND. 

In all cases where the irrigators own the canals themselves, 
the entire quantity of water in each canal available for irri¬ 
gation is divided into as many parts as there are shares of 
stock in the company. 

The cost of water to persons who purchase it from the canal 
owners is from Si.00 to Si.50 per acre for the irrigation season. 

The cost of distributing ditches is from 50 cents to S2.00 per 
acre. 

The cost of plowing and preparing land for sowing is from 
Si. 25 to SI. 75 per acre. 

The cost of harvesting, including stocking, is from SI.50 to 
S2.00 per acre. 

The yield of wheat is from twenty to forty bushels, and of 
barley from thirty-five to fifty bushels per acre. 

The value of land not adapted to irrigation is valued at from 
Si.25 to S2.00 per acre, while the land capable of being irri¬ 
gated is worth from S5.00 to S25.00 per acre. 

EFFECT OF IRRIGATION ON SOILS. 

Irrigation in the Mussel Slough District always compacts 
and hardens the soil, especially when the water is applied by 
flooding, and sometimes to a very inconvenient degree. Of 


course land is softened for the moment by watering, though in 
drying it becomes harder than before. 

It is customary in the Mussel Slough country, when water 
can be got to irrigate the ground after taking off a summer 
crop, in order both to soften it for plowing for autumn sowing, 
and to hasten the sprouting of the winter grain sown upon it. 

In localities where the soil is a light, sandy loam, and irriga¬ 
tion is accomplished entirely by seepage or percolation, the orig¬ 
inal characteristics and fertility of the soil seem, as far as the 
experience in this section goes, to remain in a great degree un¬ 
changed. 

There are tracts of land, however, the subsoil of which is so 
thoroughly impregnated with alkali as to render the surface 
hopelessly barren. 

In some sections, where the surface soil is practically free 
from alkali, but with the subsoil strongly alkaline, and where 
it has been under cultivation and irrigated by seepage for sev¬ 
eral years, it has become so highly charged with alkali as to 
be unfit for profitable cultivation by irrigation. 

The alkali land is usually covered with a dense growth of 
alkali weeds and salt grass, which are unfit for any use to 
either the stock-raiser or farmer. 

All south of Tulare Lake, and a large portion north of the 
lake on the west side of the great basin, may be classified as 
non-irrigable land, not only on account of the absence of a 
sufficient water supply, but by reason of the general unfitness 
of the soil for cultivation by irrigation. In this section are 
perhaps 300,000 acres. 

CLAIMS AND CANALS. 

Of the eighty-three filings of claims to water in King’s River 
only forty-two are expressed so as to admit of interpretation into 
definite sums, even approximately. The remaining forty-one 
are so indefinite that their equivalent amounts cannot be esti¬ 
mated. Several of them set up a claim to all of the water in 
the river. There are claims filed in Tulare and Fresno Coun¬ 
ties also, but these duplicate filings cannot always be recog¬ 
nized. 

Of the sixty filings on record in Fresno County, and the 
twenty-three in Tulare County, there are twenty-eight in the 
former and fourteen in the latter in which the amount of water 
claimed is clearly stated in the language of the law relating to 
the appropriation and use of water. 

There are among the filings in Fresno and Tulare Counties, 
which claim the water from King’s River, several which do 

4 

not state the amount of their claims, and others in which the 
data, referring to the quantity of water claimed, is not suffi¬ 
ciently complete to estimate or even approximate the quantity 
called for. 

Several of the filings in Fresno County call for, in each case, 
all the water that King’s River can supply. 

There are at present about fourteen canals and ditches act- 







110 


DESCRIPTION OF THE IRRIGATING CANALS. 


ually constructed and in use, which divert their water supply 
from the river, through separate head-gates at various points 
along its channels, from the foot-hills to Tulare Lake. 

IRRIGATION FROM TULE RIVER. 

The water supply from Tule River, small in quantity and 
uncertain as to time of presentation each season, is in a great 
measure lost in the deep sands of its bed and the surrounding 
country, soon after entering upon the plains, and, indeed, to 
some extent before it has left the foot-hill region. 

o 

The neighborhood of Porterville presents the principal region 
of irrigation. The soil is generally fertile, particularly well 
adapted to wet farming, and produces abundantly with very 
little water, if it can be had regularly at the proper times. 
Small grain is cultivated by irrigation to a greater extent in 
proportion to the total area watered than in most irrigation 
regions in the State. 

So far as known, there are twelve canals or ditches which con¬ 
duct water for irrigation from Tule River. They are all small, 
some of them capable of carrying only eight or ten cubit feet 
of water per second, and their aggregate capacity is about 
350 cubit feet per second. The largest area of land irrigated 
in any one year was 4,000 to 4,500 acres; and, during the 
season of 1879, probably not over 2,000 acres were fully 
watered. 

There exists a great necessity for a better class of works in 
this region. A consolidation of interests to take water out 
from the stream in about two or three good canals, at higher 
points than where most of the ditches get their supply now, 
would result in a great saving of the precious element, which, 
as said before, is lost in the sandy beds of the natural channels. 

TULE RIVER. 

Tule River goes dry in May or June. While it yet has 
water, and before it is dry, the ground is flooded, and further 
use of water is unnecessary. There is quite a difference be¬ 
tween the irrigated crops and those which have had no water. 
The wheat grown on dry land is shrunken, and the yield is 
not as good, except in cases where the land has been summer- 
fallowed, when the crop is excellent. The whole country is 
well provided with ditches, and is so level that there is no dif¬ 
ficulty in bringing water to any locality. Especially in fruit 
and grapes is the excellence of the soil attested. Fruit is of 
the finest quality. Grapes are large and sweet. It has been 
only some six or seven years since there were any incomers in 
that section to cultivate the land. 

IRRIGATION FROM KAWEAH RIVER. 

Irrigation commenced in the neighborhood of Visalia and 
Farmington at an early day in the settlement of the country; 
a number of small farm ditches were in use in the period be¬ 
tween 1857 and 1860, and possibly some had been built several 
years before the earliest date mentioned. The principal irriga¬ 


tion from this source is now in the same neighborhood, though 
a part of the Kaweah water is conducted southerly, toward 
the town of Tulare; and the northern branch of the stream, 
known as Cross Creek, delivers another portion to two ditches 
which lead their supply to the Mussel Slough irrigation region. 

Corn, field vegetables, alfalfa, and orchard produce are the 
principal crops cultivated, though small grain is occasionally 
raised by irrigation. 

From the fact that there are natural swamps, it may well 
be understood that some lands are moist without irrigation; 
and such is the fact; but these dry out rapidly when cleared, 
and irrigation then becomes a necessity. The soil in this dis¬ 
trict is very variable in quality, the modern wash from the 
mountains brought down by the river being unevenly distrib¬ 
uted over a plain of a different composition, the soil of which 
has evidently been deposited at an eaiTier geological period. 

There are in all sixteen canal claimants to water from the 
Kaweah. Fourteen of these canals and ditches, located in the 
neighborhood of Visalia, have an aggregate capacity of 850 
cubit feet per second. The largest area of land brought under 
cultivation by these works was 8,000 to 10,000 acres. 

THE “76 CANAL.’’ 

The “76 Canal” is under the superintendence of Mr. P. Y. 
Baker, of Visalia. Under his management the work is rapidly 
approaching completion. The utmost economy and dispatch 
is observable in all his movements. Everything is so systema¬ 
tized that no time is lost nor mistakes made. The work is of 
the most permanent character, and it is of such a character that 
it will be a monument to the energy and enterprise of its pro¬ 
jectors for centuries to come- J. S. Ur ton was the very compe¬ 
tent engineer of this work, and great credit is due for his skill 
in planning this work. 

The 76 Canal is taken out of King’s River in Fresno County, 
some distance above Campbell Mountain. It has been com¬ 
pleted a distance of six miles through the most difficult part of 
its line. It is 100 feet wide on the bottom and will carry a 
depth of four feet. It is kept on high ground. It will strike 
the Tulare County line near Smith’s Mountain. The lands it 
is designed to irrigate are among the richest in the State. 
Large districts that have afforded nothing more than sheep 
ranges will be converted into gardens, vineyards, orchards, and 
alfalfa pastures that will rival the sections already brought 
under the influence of water. This enterprise will be a vast 
extension of the material resources of both Fresno and Tulare 
Counties. At the present rate its completion is assured at an 
early date. 

There are employed iu its construction 170 men and 300 
horses. There are 70 scrapers employed. Besides the general 
interests it conserves, this enterprise is giving employment to a 
large number of persons that would otherwise be out of work 
on account of the continued drought. 






ARTESIAN WELLS OF TULARE COUNTY. 


Ill 


The Artesian Belt. 

“The boundaries of the belt are,” says the Tulare Register, 
“as yet, very uncertainly defined. From the attempts which 
have already been made to locate them it is quite evident that 
the belt has nearly the same general direction as the valle}*' and 
the mountain ranges, i. e. from the northwest to the southeast, 
though it swerves to the westward somewhat faster than do 
the latter. 

“ The line of the Southern Pacific Railroad has been thought 
to mark the eastern limit of the belt with tolerable accuracy 
though a few very small wells have been obtained a short dis¬ 
tance east of the track in the vicinity of Tule River. At 
Tulare City, and even two miles east of this point, wells have 
been bored which undoubtedly tapped the same stratum of 
water that supplies the flowing wells farther west, but the 
water only rises in them to within three or four feet of the 
surface and will not flow. There is a small flowing well two 
miles west of Tulare City, but it is very doubtful if one could 
be obtained much nearer. 

“Of the western boundary of this belt nothing is known 
except that it certainly extends to the lake, and perhaps far 
beyond; and its northern and southern limits are alike unascer¬ 
tained. 

FINE BODY OF LAND. 

“This much, however, has been proven beyond question: 
There does exist a tract of as fine land as can be found in the 
entire State of California, or anywhere else, not less than 
twenty-five miles in length and from twelve to fifteen in 
breadth, upon which no one has failed to get artesian water 
who has made the trial for it, and it is extremely likely that as 
additional wells are bored in other localities, the limits of this 
tract will be still further extended. Indeed it is the general 
opinion that good flowing wells may be had almost anywhere 
in this vicinity by boring to a sufficient depth, but as no wells 
have yet been sunk much deeper than 800 feet, this is simply 
a matter of conjecture, supported by inferences based upon the 
configuration and character of the country. 

“We believe we are perfectly safe in saying that within the 
limits of this belt can be found good land for 4,000 forty-acre 
farms, which, if we allow five persons to each family, will sup¬ 
port a population of 20,000 people without crowding any one.” 

FIRST ARTESIAN WELL. 

Some six years ago the railroad company bored for artesian 
water, two miles south of Tipton and within a few rods of 
the track. They obtained about a four-inch flow of water at 
a depth of 310 feet from the surface. The well is still doing 
nicely, and they have a large grove of trees among which are 
several thousand blue gums and locusts, besides fruit trees. 


The surplus water flowing from the well is run into a minia¬ 
ture lake, in which is quite a family of carp. The banks are 
covered with a rich green grass and shaded by the tall trees 
which encircle the water, making a very beautiful spot in the 
midst of a desert, where the weary traveler is welcome to come 
and enjoy the refreshing shade and listen to the songs of the 
many birds that inh ibit the grove. A convenient little boat 
has also been provided for the enjoyment of those who are fond 
of such sport. 

This “ Tree Ranch,” as it is called, is where nearly all the 
trees that are transplanted along the road on this division are 
taken from. The well upon this place is the weakest, with 
only one or two exceptions, that there is in this vicinity. The 
land here is mostly as level as a house floor, but there is an 
occasional piece of hog-wallow, but the wallows are very 
small and easily leveled. A good artesian well, such as most 
of them in this vicinity are, will irrigate 160 acres of land 
very easily, and the land after being once wet is very produc-. 
tive. 

When it came to be known that with even so small a well 
the company had got forty acres of trees to growing finely, 
people began to perceive that even small wells were better than 
none. 

THE ARTESIAN BOOM STARTED. 

In the year 1881 a subscription was taken up among citi¬ 
zens, and a well bored on Paige & Morton’s place three miles 
west of Tulare City. At a depth of 330 feet a flow of three 
and one-half inches was struck, and the boom in the artesian 
belt was started. Paige & Morton own in this tract some 
3,500 acres. The first part of the ranch is reached about one 
mile from Tulare City. The well is seven inches in diameter 
and 330 feet deep. The water flows with a strong, clear 
stream. It is moderately warm, and fiat and insipid, tasting 
somewhat like boiled water. 

The soil around the well is a black sand loam and absorbs 
the water very fast, so that the quantity thrown out cannot 
be properly estimated by the casual observer. It is estimated 
that 800,000 gallons are thrown out every twenty-four hours. 
The machinery used for the boring is that used in boring ordi¬ 
nary wells. The men were engaged twenty-seven days in 
boring the shaft. The first 300 feet was through soil and 
sand of the usual kind encountered in boring wells in the 
valley. The last thirty was through blue, tough, smooth clay 
with the exception of a short distance in granite rock. When 
the auger went through, it fell two feet; afterward a sand 
pump was used, but encountered nothing but sand for some 
feet. Evidently they have tapped one of the numerous 
subterranean rivers that underlie the valley. A quarter or 
half dollar thrown into the water is immediately rejected by 
the force of the water. We were even told that one more bold 
than his fellows risked a twenty-dollar gold piece in the crys- 






112 


ARTESIAN WELLS OF TULARE COUNTY. 


tal tide. It went down a short distance, and, when they 
thought it was gone, the water brought it up and threw it 
out. 

IMPORTANT WELL. 

This well was considered so important as to be visited by 
the Board of Supervisors, prominent citizens of the town, 
together with the representative of the press. The cost of the 
well has been about 8700 dollars. 

A vain attempt was made to cap the well with common 
pump pipe, the bottom of a Douglass’ pump that was screwed 
on to the pipe forming the cap. The united strength of all 
that could get at it was not sufficient to hold it down. The 
water spouted out at the sides, and, in one case, rose almost in 
a perpendicular stream by the side of the pipe, higher than 
the man’s head. 

A. P. Crumley, the water-witch, or water “ Professor” was 
about as happy a man as there was on the ground. He had 
found the spot, and foretold the number of feet very nearly, 
and that was no small honor for one man. 

CHRISTENING THE WELL. 

A. B. Du Brutz mounted the platform beside the well, and, 
after a neat, short speech, poured some of the contents of a 
bottle he held in his hand into the well, and christened it the 
Enterprise Well, discovered by A. P. Cromley. 

The men drank the whisky, but every drop that was thrown 
on the surface of those clear waters was indignantly thrown out 
in the trough, and the well remains a temperance well to-day 
notwithstanding they tried to make it drink. 

The throng came together again at the Pacific Hotel, where, 
under the management of Mr. Madden, proprietor of the 
house, a fine dinner was set, free for all. After the viands 
were duly discussed, speeches were made by Messrs. S. Sweet, 
Tipton Lindsey, E. Jacob, J. F. Uhlhorn, Judge Cross, A. J. 
Atwell, A. P. Cromley, and W. G. Spence. Mr. Cromley did 
not pretend to explain the mystery of the switch, but the 
power was there. Mr. Spence gave a short history of the well 
from the first call made upon him by Mr. Morton until its 
final consummation. 

DUTY OF AN ARTESIAN WELL. 

By this we mean the amount of land that a well will irri¬ 
gate during the season. In attempting to give the reader a clear 
idea of what may reasonably be expected of a well, we are met 
by an unsurmountable difficulty to start with. There are so 
many contingencies to be met with that no rule of general 
application is possible. Some kinds of soil require four times 
as much water as others, and it is difficult to find one hundred 
acres of land anywhere that hasn’t two or three different kinds 
of soil upon it. The soil may all be equally good, but it 
requires different treatment at the hands of the farmer, and 
different quantities of water. Then again much depends upon 


the condition in which the land is in. If it is cut up into 
small checks, with ridges thrown up around each one, and they 
are properly leveled so that the water can be let into one check 
at a time, and flooded completely over it, without having to 
put on twice as much as is needed in order to have the high 
spots wet up, perhaps the same amount of water can be made 
to do double the duty it otherwise would do. 

NO DEFINITE RULE FOR IRRIGATION. 

After the first year nearly all land requires less irrigation 
than during the first season. Thorough cultivation and pul¬ 
verization of the soil also makes a great difference in the 
amount of water required. Another difficulty in the way of 
giving a definite rule is found in the fact that our farmers are 
mostly new to the business, this being the first season that 
they have had their wells. 

Notwithstanding all of these contingencies, if the ground be 
well prepared, the water well husbanded, and the crops diversi¬ 
fied so that all the land will not require water at the same 
time, a well with a three and one-half inch flow will furnish 
all the water needed for 160 acres of land after it has all been 
well irrigated one season. 

On some ranches where the soil is not too sandy, and is 
underlaid with hardpan at a depth of three or four feet, the 
same amount of water may do double that duty, while on 
other farms having a light, sandy soil, with “ no bottom,” it 
might find half that duty sufficient to keep it busy. But it 
seems to be the almost universal opinion among our irrigators 
that, take it one year with another on old ground, one well to 
each 160 acres will be amply sufficient. 

MATTER TAKEN FROM AN ARTESIAN WELL. 

Pieces of charcoal, nut shells, and wood were taken from an 
artesian well being bored near Tulare, at a depth of 320 feet. 
The wood had the appearance of redwood. The nut shells 
looked like hickory or hazel-nuts. The charcoal was from 
some kind of light wood. 


DIAGRAM OF AN ARTESIAN WELL* 


DEPTH. 

297 feet. 

CHARACTER OF VARIOVS STRATA. 

2 feet. 

Surface soil and sandy loam. 

98 feet. 

This space passed through was composed of fine sand streaked 
with thin layers of clay soil. The sand was similar to the 
sand of the plains. 

1 foot. 

A layer of solid “hard-pan.” 

95 feet. 

In going through this strata it was found to be composed of 
various kinds and qualities of sand from “ quicksand ” to 
coarse gravel. 

101 feet. 

This layer was a compact mass of hard blue clay, such as is 
formed from the dccompositi >n of granite and other rocks. 
After passing thr ugh this a flowing well was obtained. 


* The cost of boring this well was $457. 

















RESIDENCE * HOME OF GEO. 0. KINNE, IG MILES WEST OF BAKERSFIELD, KERN CO.CAL 


euiorr lith.4zkaoNt.sT. 


IH 7- -.Il-W-* —^,1T»Ir- 


-rrr- 


«■»— b ni« ~ ..— -4M '» 












































































































































































































































































































TIIE ADVANTAGES OE ARTESIAN WELLS. 


113 


TULARE COUNTY ARTESIAN WELLS. 

During the two years following, artesian well boring was 
inaugurated and wonderful results have been obtained and a 
great impetus given to artesian irrigation in the vicinity of 
Visalia and Tulare City. For the information of those inter- 


ested we give below, taken 

from the Delta, 

a list 

of some of 

those owning artesian wells 

in this county, with the depth, size 

of pipe and flow. 

DEPTH 1 

3JZE 

FLOW 


IN FEET. OF 

PIPE. 

IN INCHES. 

T. Bacigalupi. 

. 340 

5 

4* 

Jeff. Jaynes. 

. 382 

8 

f 

Wm. Blankenship. . 

. 385 

7 

£ 

Uhlhorn & Maples. , 

. 448 

7 

4 

<( it 

389 

7 

34 

Sol. Ephriam. 

. 324 

7 

4 

John Creighton... 

. 3G6 

7 

3£ 

(( it 

326 

7 

H 

C. Knupp. 

. 372 

7 

24 

B. F. Smith. 

. 340 

i 

3 

Castle. 

. 418 

7 

4* 

it 

422 

7 

44 

Jas. Mitchell . 

. 386 

7 

44 

it it 

355 

7 

6 

E. M. Dewey. 

. 308 

7 

4 

Geo. Mead. 


7 

3 

D. 0. Harolson.... 

. 390 

7 

4 

M. M. Burnett. 

. 336 

7 

1 

Dudley Evans. 

. 370 

7 

34 

I. Burnett. 


7 

li 

R. T. Priest. 

. 398 

7 

l 

Lemuel Pierce. 

. 300 

7 

n 

Paige &; Morton. . . 


7 

34 

« a 

332 

7 

If 

Woods Bros. 

. 472 

7 

34 

John Allen. 

. 352 

7 

4 

Lee Weaver. 

. 340 

7 

2 

A. P. Croinley. 

.. 320 

7 

34 

Michael Premo.... 

. 460 

7 

14 

Geo. Bertch. 

. 480 

7 

24 


Since then there have been between seventy and eighty 
good flowing wells obtained in this belt, and not less than ten 
or twelve boring outfits are now at work constantly sinking 
new ones. 

ADVANTAGES OF ARTESIAN WELLS. 

“ It is claimed by men who profess to know,” says the Delta, 
“ that artesian wells possess many advantages over canals for 
watering stock and for irrigating small farms or plots of land. 
For watering stock they can be located in the most convenient 
place, whereas if a ditch is run expressly for stock purposes it 
is often inconvenient to run it in the most desirable locality. 
For irrigation they claim that it is cheap, economical and never 
failing. The above list does not include all the wells that are 
bored. 

*** A half-inch flow,*’ means a depth of half inch of water as it flows over 
the five-inch pipe in all directions. 


“Among the advantages of an artesian well are the following: 
When once it is bored, the value of the land it is on is en¬ 
hanced more than the value of its (the well’s) cost; it is one’s 
own, and the water can be used whenever and wherever de¬ 
sired; no neighbor, ditch superintendent or any other person 
can have aught to say in the matter; there are no assessments 
to pay; there is no worrying about the failure of crops; and 
as far as known yet, the owner of a good well is independent 
of the dry seasons. 

“W. G. Spence, of Oakland, and B. F. Mull, of Tulare, have 
sunk all the wells in this district. The wells will irrigate 
from twenty to one hundred acres, owing to the nature of the 
soil and flow of water. The average cost of the above list of 
wells is $525. It will be noticed that the depth at which 
water was struck is very uniform, indicating a wide artesian 
belt in this county. 

“ Whenever water has been found in sufficient quantity the 
result has been eminently satisfactory. The cost of boring 
wells has been low, and the flow of water inexhaustible. Par¬ 
ticularly has this been the case in Tulare County. Nowhere 
in California is the geological formation so favorable to artesian 
well boring. Water is found at a remarkably slight depth, and 
in every instance has been satisfactory in the matter of flow 
and permanency.” 

ARTESIAN WELL DESCRIBED. 

The following well-written discription of the artesian wells 
is taken from the Tulare Register 

An artesian well consists of a small hole sunk into the earth, 
through which water rises from subterranean sources nearly 
to or above the surface of the earth. Those which rise above 
the surface are called “flowing wells.” Artesian wells are not 
a “recent invention.” They were known ages ago to those 
sedate old fogies whom we call the ancients, and even the 
heathen Chinee used them in the “ Flowery Kingdom ” before 
America was discovered by Columbus at any rate, if not be¬ 
fore it was discovered by the mound builders. Countries dif¬ 
fer from each other in the nature of their artesian wells, and 
the manner of procuring them, as widely as they do in politics 
and religion; but it is only with the wells in Tulare County 
that we now have to deal. 

MANNER OF BORING. 

In this portion of the State no stone is encountered in bor¬ 
ing wells. There is nothing that offers more resistance than 
a stiff clay, and for this reason no such tools are required as 
are found necessary in other localities. The sets of tools most 
frequently met with are hand tools. They consist of a half 
round auger, fastened to the end of a twenty-foot pole or piece 
of gas pipe, and worked by two men by means of a cross 
handle that can be slipped up on the pole as fast as the 
auger goes down. As the well deepens, and other poles are 
































114 


AMOUNT OP WATER AVAILABLE. 


needed, they are coupled together in the same manner as gas 
pipe. When the auger has b i en filled, it is hoisted with a wire 
cable and a horse power. When working in sand and water 
an instrument called a sand pump is used. This consists of a 
tube eight or ten feet long, in the bottom of which is a lai'ge 
valve. By churning this sand pump up and down it soon tills 
and is hoisted to the top. This is rather a slow process, and 
other means have been resorted to to enable parties to bore 
with greater facility. There are now three hydraulic ma¬ 
chines in the neighborhood, which it is hoped will be an im¬ 
provement on the hand tools. These machines use boring rods 
made entirely of gas pipe, but they only use the auger to stir 
up the sand and water into a thin mud. By forcing a stream 
of water down through the gas pipe, they force the mud and 
sand up outside, between the gas pipe and sheet iron well cas¬ 
ing, and the casing is shoved down as fast as the auger de- 
scends by a couple of hydraulic jacks. The hand outfits shove 
their casings down with long levers. 

These wells are all cased with heavy sheet-iron tubes made 
about the same length as joints of stovepipe, that are slipped 
together in a similar manner, only it is used double. Occa¬ 
sionally the casing gets stuck, and cannot be shoved down. 
When such is the case a pipe an inch smaller is sent down in¬ 
side, and used the rest of the way. By this means it fre¬ 
quently happens that a well that was started with an eight- 
inch casing ends with a four-inch one. It usually happens 
that at least three successive flows are struck in boring an 
artesian well, each being better than the first. When one of 
these flows is reached the pipe may be sent on down to the 
next flow and perforated afterwards to let the first one in, or 
it may be stopped at that point and a smaller one sent down 
to each successive flow, j ust as the proprietor prefers. 

COST OF ARTESIAN WELLS. 

The cost of an artesian well is a thing that “no fellow can 
find out” until the work is done. The r ites charged for the 
work areas follows: For the first 100 feet, §50.00; for the second 
100 feet, §75.00: for the third 100 feet §100, and proportionate 
increase for each succeeding 100 feet. The casing costs from 
35 cents to 50 cents per foot, and the owner of the well usu¬ 
ally lias to board three men while the work is being done, 
which takes from two to five weeks, owing to the number of 
accidents that happen during the process. The cost of a well 
complete will range between §500 and §700, depending upon 
the depth, number of accidents, etc. Some of the first wells 
that were bored cost a good deal more than that, but they are 
getting cheaper right along. The depth of the wells varies 
from 325 to 700 feet, according to locality. 

THE FLOW OF WATER. 

The water rises after a flow is struck, and runs over the 
edge of the pipe, in all directions, in a continuous stream, 
and the flow is measured by the depth of the water over the 


edge of the pipe. If the water flows over the edge of the 
pipe at depth of two inches, it is called a two-inch 
flow. The wells in this belt have flows ranging from half 
an inch, at the outside edge of the belt, to five inches in the 
best localities. A three and one-half-inch flow over a seven- 
inch pipe will probably discharge just about one cubit foot of 
water per second. Such a well would be considered a very 
good one, perhaps a little better than an average. 

We give in one of our views an illustration of an artesian 
well after it is capped and sending up its pure crystal flood 
and covering the ground with a lake of clear water. 

o o 

AMOUNT OF WATER AVAILABLE. 

The Tulare Register in its able review of the resources of the 
count} T , says: “The supply of water for irrigation in Tulare 
County is ample, if some system be inaugurated that will utilize 
what we have to the best advantage. 

“ King’s River, on the north, has a mountain water shed of 
1,855 square miles, and pours into the valley from the first of 
January to the last o July an average of 8,715 cubic feet of 
water per second, or enough to irrigate more than a million 
acres. This water has to be divided with Fresno County, but 
Tulare County is entitled to enough to irrigate all of her 
portion of the water-shed of that stream. 

“The Kaweah River, further south, has a water-shed of 608 
squai’e miles, and discharges an average of 1,824 cubic feet per 
second into the valley through her multitudinous channels 
du'ing the same period—the period of greatest need—enough 
to irrigate 291,840 acres of land if properly husbanded. 

“South of this is Tule River, capable of irrigating 63,900 
acres more. Further south still are the important streams of 
Deer Creek and White River that will irrigate their tens of 
thousands of acres. In addition to this we have our great 
artesian belt that has been fully described. There is an abun¬ 
dance of surface water at a depth of from eight to twenty feet, 
and nice little orchards are now to be found that owe their 
existence to water pumped by windmills, horse-powers and 
steam pumps. 

“ The whole southern half of the State of California is subject 
to occasional droughts, and this is particularly the case with the 
counties in the upper San Joaquin Valley. During any period 
of five years we may safely count upon two years during 
which there will be an abundance of rain to insure a crop, two 
years more that will produce about half a crop, and one that 
will be either a flood or a famine. Notwithstanding these 
apparently discouraging facts, there are many thousand acres 
of land in the county upon which money can be made by rais¬ 
ing grain through any period of five years taken together with¬ 
out irrigation, and doubtless the same will hold true with the 
land upon the dry plains when a superior system of cultivation 
shall have been inaugurated. Subsoiling and summer fallowing 
will work wonders. 








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Wmm 

$mfy% 


#$ 8 $ 


. 



ELLLIOTT UTW **IM0ftiT ST 























GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


115 


Grand and Sublime Scenery of the 
Sierra Nevada. 





OUR ALPS. 

In the 
Mountains 
of the Sier¬ 
ra Nevada 
and west 
of Mount 
Whitney, 
and com¬ 
prised within a small belt, can 
be found the grandest scenery in the world. Here at the foot 
of Mount Whitney, the highest mountain in the United States, 
are to be seen three of the grandest canons or valleys on the 
continent. One of them, says Prof. Whitney, “ rivals and 
even surpasses Yosemite in the altitude of its surrounding 
cliffs. The walls rise at various points from 3,500 to 6,000 
feet above the base. At the head of the valley, occupying 
a position similar to Half Dome in Yosemite, is a wall nearly 
vertical, between 6,500 and 7,000 feet high.” 


BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 


In these valleys are the highest water-falls, and grand and 
sublime scenery in greater abundance than can be found else¬ 
where. Here are natural bridges and caves, extinct volcanoes 
to be explored, and living glaciers to be examined. The “ big 
trees ” of this section surpass those of any other locality, not 
only in size but in numbers. Nestled here and there in the 
mountains are lakes of clear, cold water, like settings of dia¬ 
monds in the rock-ribbed mountains. No part of the Sierras 
combines so great a variety of grand and instructive features 
as does this region with its towering peaks, its perennial 
snows, its ancient fossils and other exhaustless stores of study. 


ADVANTAGES OF OUR ALPS. 

Here in our own California we have our Alps ready made, 
which can be visited in their deepest recesses in one-twentieth 
of the time and at one-fiftieth of the cost involved in a trip to 
Europe. Our Alps of the Sierra Nevada are as high in their 
highest part, too, as even the mountain king of Europe, Mount 
Blanc. Then they are immeasurably more accessible and far 
more secluded. Indeed the charm of our mountains is the 
ease with which one can get away 'from everybody in them. 
Guides and tourists do not meet you at every turn, as they do 
in the Alp a . In one’s own mountains, too, far more than in a 
foreign country, there is the feeling of freedom and home. 
Here you are continually finding new and grand scenes that 
have not been visited or pictured, and which constantly have 
a charm of freshness about them which it is impossible to find 
about those places of which much has been said or written. 

JOHN MUIR ON CALIFORNIA ALPS. 

How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! To 
behold this alone is worth the pains of any excursion a thou¬ 
sand times over. The highest peaks burned like islands in a 
sea of liquid shade. Then the lower peaks and spires caught 
the glow, and long lances of light, streaming through many a 
notch and pass, fell thick on the frozen meadows. 

Eastward, the whole region seems a land of pure desolation 
covered with beautiful light. The torrid volcanic basin of 
Mono, with its one bare lake fourteen miles long; Owen’s Val¬ 
ley and the broad lava table-land at its head, dotted with 
craters; and the massive Inyo Range, rivaling even the Sierra 
in height,—these are spread, map-like, beneath you, with 
countless ranges beyond, passing and overlapping one another 
and fading on the glowing horizon. 

A SCENE OF SUPERIOR GRANDEUR. 

The eye roves around the vast expanse, rejoicing in so grand 
a freedom, yet returning again and again to the mountain peaks. 
Perhaps some one of the multitude excites special attention, 
some gigantic castle with turret and battlement, or Gothic 
cathedral more abundantly spired than Milan’s. But, gener¬ 
ally, when looking for the first time from an all-embracing 
stand-point like this, the inexperienced observer is oppressed 
by the incomprehensible grandeur of the peaks, and it is only 
after they have been studied one by one, long and lovingly, 
that their far-reaching harmonies become manifest. 

GRAND MOUNTAINS AND GLACIERS. 

Savs John Muir of these regions: “ There are giant mount¬ 
ains, valleys innumerable, glaciers and meadows, rivers and 
lakes, with the wide blue sky bent tenderly over them all. 
Lakes are seen gleaming in all sorts of places, round, or oval, 
or square, like very mirrors; others narrow and sinuous, 
drawn close around the peaks like silver zones, the highest 

































116 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY 


reflecting only rocks, snow, and the sky. But neither these 
nor the glaciers, nor the bits of brown meadow and moorland 
that occur here and there, are large enough to make any 
marked impression upon the mighty wilderness of Alps.” 

Speaking of the “Palisades,” he says: “The eye is first 
caught by a row of exceedingly sharp and slender spires, which 
rise openly to a height of about a thousand feet, from a series 
of short, residual glaciers that lean back against their bases; 
their fantastic sculpture and the unrelieved sharpness with 
which they spring out of the ice rendering them peculiarly 
wild and striking. Beyond them you behold a most sublime 
wilderness of mountains, their snowy summits crowded to¬ 
gether in lavish abundance, peak beyond peak, swelling 
higher, higher as they sweep on southward until the culmi¬ 
nating point of the range is reached on Mount Whitney.” 

THE ALPENGLOW. 

“ Now came the solemn, silent evening. Long, blue, spiky- 
edged shadows crept out across the snow-fields, while a rosy 
glow, at first scarcely discernible, gradually deepened and suf¬ 
fused every mountain-top, flushing the glaciers and the harsh 
crags above them. This was the alpenglow, to me the most 
impressive of all the terrestrial manifestations of God.” 

Of the effect of a trip to the Sierras, Clarence King says: 
“As often as one camps 12,000 feet in these mountain regions, 
the charm of crystal pure air, those cold, sparkling, glen-like 
lakes, tints of rock, and Alpine lake, the fiery bronze of foli¬ 
age, the luminous though deep-toned sky combine to produce 
an intellectual and even a spiritual elevation.” 

THIS SCENERY EASILY REACHED. 

A twenty-four hours’ trip from San Francisco enables one 
to reach a I’egion where he can see nature in her most impress¬ 
ive and gigantic forms, become a companion of solitude in its 
most inexcessible retreats, and witness mountain sunrise, sun¬ 
shine and sunset alpenglow in their most peaceful aspects. 
It can be justly claimed that there is more change and rest to 
a dweller by the fog-laden air of the ocean in a three days’ 
stay in the high Sierra than in two weeks in the Coast Range. 
The climate there is the same, or nearly the same, as that of 
San Francisco; but in these Sierras the elevation is great and 
the air very light and dry. It is a perfect tonic in its bracing 
effects. The change is complete, and the more complete the 
change the more complete the benefit. The world of the high 
mountains seems an entirely different one. 

HOW TO GET THERE. 

You take the 9: 30 A. M., or 4 P. M. train at Market Street, 
and in the comfortable cars of the Central Pacific you pass 
along the edge of the bay and obtain glimpses of the many 
new manufactories just being started by the enterprising busi¬ 
ness men of Oakland. The cars keep near the shore and pass 


through tunnels and around sharp points where you obtain 
glimpses of the opposite shore; of Mare Island and the village 
of Vallejo; of Benicia, which in 1853 was the capital of the 
State; of the great ferry-boat which transports an entire train 
to the opposite shore where it speeds on its way overland. 
You pass Martinez, where tourists take private conveyance for 



View of a Sierra Nevada Cason. 


Mount Diablo, 3,856 feet high, from whose peak can be seen 
the homes of at least two-thirds of the entire population of the 
State. 

Just before you reach Lathrop, the great San Joaquin River 
is crossed. In early days passenger traffic was exclusively by 
steamer, and as seen in the engraving. At Lathrop the train 



































GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


117 


bears to the right, and enters the great San Joaquin Valley— 
a great level plain dotted with groves of grand oaks which 
relieve the solitude of the scene. Here you pass through 
vast grain-fields which seemingly have no end. Here may be 
seen the great header, pushed along by twenty-four horses, 



Mount Diablo and the San Joaquin by Moonlight, 

and cutting, threshing, and sacking the grain as it proceeds. 
Interspersed are large, sandy plains, the home of the taran¬ 
tula, ground squirrel, and horned toad. 

As you pass on through the great valley, you see looming 
up in the cool morning air, the blue outlines of the beautiful 
Sierra Nevada, calmly and serenely viewing the San Joaquin 
Valley with a paternal and affectionate look, and seemingly 
inviting its inhabitants to approach and form an acquaintance. 

HOW TO* REACH THE SCENERY. 

If you leave San Francisco at 4 p. M., you arrive at Fresno 
at midnight; Or leave the city in the morning and spend a 
few hours visiting the great vineyards and wine-cellars, and 
inspect the progress and results of irrigation in the colonies. 
In the morning, leave there with good horses and light wagon. 

One day’s travel brings you to the foot-hills, covered with 
oaks of mammoth size; they gently rise from the heretofore 
unbroken level of the valley. Hill after hill is passed, higher 
and higher ascend toward the snow-covered peaks above. 

The trail leads through many a pleasant dell, secluded from 
the outer world by the neighboring hills, nearly all of which 
are under cultivation, and where the cabin of the rancher, who 
has forsaken the dusty atmosphere of the plains, to dwell here 
in peace and quietude, can be seen nestled at the base of some 
gentle slope, or beneath the wide-spreading branches of the 
live-oak. Here the path changes, the smooth hard-packed 
loam is changed to broken rocks and slate, and huge bowlders 
rise up on all sides. The oak is superseded by towering pine, 
and deep awe-inspiring canons and gulches cross the path. 

At the foot of the first high mountain is the little village of 


Toll House, thirty-two miles from Fresno. Here you can find 
good accommodations. Toll House is located within a circle of 
lofty mountains. Two miles north is a canon through which 
passes Dry Creek in a series of cascades of 1,000 feet. 

Markwood Meadows are located in the high mountains, 
about fourteen miles east of the Toll House. It is a beautiful 
plateau, level as a floor, and at the proper season is covered 
with a luxuriant carpet of green grass. A wall of stately 
pines environs them, and adds to the charming character of 
the meadows. For years past they have been a favorite sum¬ 
mer resort for a number of families, who have built comfort¬ 
able homes for their use. From Toll House you begin to as¬ 
cend the steep grade leading to the saw-mills of Donahoo, and 
others, until you reach “ Dinkey,” sixty-one miles from Fresno. 

HORSES AND GUIDES. 

The next day Mr. Frank Dusy, the proprietor, will fur¬ 
nish guides and horses. He is perfectly familiar with the sur¬ 
rounding country and has given it a very thorough explora¬ 
tion. From this point it is five miles to the big trees, and 
twenty-five miles to the beautiful Tehipitee Valley by horse¬ 
back. From here you go to the grand Paradise Valley or 
King’s River Canon, or to Redwood Canon six miles distant, 
or on into the unexplored regions of the Sierra. Mount Whit¬ 
ney is about thirty-five miles distant, and also other grand 
mountains. 

“DINKEY,” THE RESIDENCE OF FRANK DUSY. 

Dinkey is the place where horse-back travel begins. . We 
give an illustration of this stopping-place in the big tree grove. 
It is the summer residence of Frank Dusy, where guides and 
horses can be obtained for excursions in any direction. This 
singular name was given the place from a little dog named 
“Dinkey” who was torn by a bear in this neighborhood. 
Dinkey Valley itself is about 200 acres. Bear, deer and other 
game are numerous in any direction. Seventeen bears were 
killed there in the summer of 1882. During fourteen years of 



Horned Toad of the San Joaquin Valley. 


Mr. Dusy’s residence there, he has killed some eighteen or 
twenty bears. Many grizzlies were found. 

Mr. Frank Dusy, the well-known sheep man and mountain¬ 
eer, organizes parties of explorers and sight-seers to visit the 
headwaters of the San Joaquin, King’s and Kaweah Rivers, 
whose sources are embraced in a circle of twenty-five miles in 






























118 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY 


diameter. The country adjacent is probably the most rugged 
and yet the grandest and most sublime in the State. All who 
can overcome the numerous obstacles of such a trip will be 
repaid beyond words, by the glorious vision of a wonderful 
and awe-inspiring panorama. 

Parties, with Mr. Dusy as captain and guide, leave Dinkey 
Creek, visit the big trees, and camp at night on the North 
Fork Meadows. The second day will take them to Dyke 
Peak and Collins’ Camp at Crown Mountain. On the 
third day they will reach the farthest point practicable for 
animals—the Alpine Camp. From that point, the adven¬ 
turous ones, carrying their blankets and provisions, will 
visit Mt. Goddard and the Palisades, whose elevation is 
upwards of 14,000 feet, t ence south to the main ridge 
dividing the middle and south forks of King’s River, visit¬ 
ing the beautiful lakes at their source, and finally camp- 
ward, across the famous Tehipitee Valley, thence to Para¬ 
dise Valley, Kern Canon, and the mountains. 

(Mr. Dusy attends to his sheep which range the hills 
and valleys. He keeps from 13,000 to 24,000 sheep 
divided into bands of about 3,000. Two herders are 
required for each band, and a shepherd dog. A good 
dog is worth more than two men in taking care of sheep). 

WASHINGTON GROVE. 

This grove is located six miles from “ Dinkey ” on a 
small creek that empties into Dinkey Creek. The place 
is very wild. Here there are upward s of 100 trees exceed 
ing thirty-six feet in circumference. 

The largest, the General Washington, measures thirty- 
four feet and six inches in diameter, and has been about 
one-half burned off. The next larger measures seventy- 
three feet and six inches in circumference. This has also 
been burned and detracts from its size. The third in 
size is fifty-seven feet; the fourth, fifty-six feet; the fifth, 
fifty-three feet; the sixth, sixty-seven feet; the seventh, 
sixty-nine feet; the eighth, sixty-one and one-half feet, etc. 

One of the fallen trees is 240 feet long and seven feet 
in diameter; another, the Fallen Monarch, is thirty feet in 
diameter, but not so long. The pine forests surrounding 
these trees are very dense and full of huge sugar and 
yellow pine trees. 

Mr. Dusy having great influence with the Indians resid¬ 
ing about there has prevailed upon them not to start any 
fires in the groves, and through this thoughtfulness of Mr. 
Dusy the groves are peing preserved. 

Dusy and Markwood took accurate measurement of these 
trees. The largest tree measured 1224 feet in circumference 
and estimated at 400 feet high. 

Professor Whitney, State geologist, speaking of this grove, 
says:— 

“The largest tree seen was 106 feet in circumference and 


276 feet high. It had, however, been burned on one side and 
must have been originally from 125 to 110 feet. Another tree 
is prostrate and hollow. It is burned out so one can ride in 
on horseback for a distance of seventy-five feet and have room 
to turn around. At 120 feet from the base the tree is thirteen 
feet in diameter inside the bark. There is an immense number 


of big trees in this vicinity from ten to fifteen feet in diameter.”' 

On the ground is one tree which has been hollowed out by 
fire. Three men can easily ride abreast in and through the 
hollow for about seventy-five feet, when they have the privilege 
of passing out of a knot hole. A man on horseback cannot 
touch the roof with his riding whip during this whole distance. 



Bowlder Forming Natural Bridge Over Canon 30 Ft. Wide and 100 Deep. 























































GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


119 


Judge E. C. Winchell says that the largest of the pines 
girt thirty feet and rise one hundred yards high. Amidst this 
zone are studded the isolated groves of mammoth trees. Like 
conscious emperors, they retire into the penetralia from the 
gaze of the vulgar herd. Those of Calaveras County, and of 
the northern edge of Fresno County, have already received the 
homage of the world. Those on the southern border of Fresno 
County are but little known, by reason of their remoteness. 
These ti'ees vie with the others in size and stature and exceed 
them in numbers. Many, however, are decayed at the top and 
thus disfigured—from what cause it does not appear. The 
largest is thirty-five feet in diameter, and three hundred an ! 
fifty feet in height. Not far distant is one that has fallen and 
been hollowed by decay and fire. Three mounted men, who 
made their noon-halt near by,—armed cap-a-pie and followed 
by a heavily laden Sumpter-mule, who insisted on sharing then- 
fate, rode, in single file—sitting erect and carrying their guns 
with the muzzles raised three feet above their heads—into the 



Riding through the Fallen King. 


unbroken, blackened tube for seventy-two feet (measured with 
a lariat), contemplated at leisure the beauties of the situation 
by the light from the knot hole, size of a barn door ; without 
dismounting or changing position, wheeled their animals with 
perfect ease, and rode out as they rode in. 

COMPARATIVE SIZE OF TREES. 

Prof. Whitney gives the measurement of the largest tree in 
the Mariposa Grove at ninety-three feet and six inches in cir¬ 
cumference. Of the Calaveras Grove, the “ mother of the for¬ 
est, ” is given at ninety feet at the base. Thus it will be seen 
that the Fresno trees are far ahead in size. Having examined 
many of these wonderful trees we continue on the trip to 
examine still grander scenery. 

SNOW PLANTS. 

Proceeding from Washington Grove you pass through a dense 
forest of pine with beautiful snow plants pushing up their scar¬ 


let heads through the moist sod. You catch only occasional 
glimpses of sky and sunshine and surrounding mountains, pass¬ 
ing into beautiful meadows filled with flowers of every shade 
and color (September) which fill the air with their perfume. 

You breathe in the morning air so pure, so cool and exhilarat¬ 
ing that it infuses new life into your being. 

You cross the north fork of King’s River, astream thirty feet 
wide, and proceed to Oso Creek, and further on another 
named Clarenden, which runs into the creek which flows into 
Helms Valley, and with several others, forms the stream which 
makes the falls of King’s River. 

From this ridge you can see nine beautiful clear lakes in 
various directions. On the road, you pass over a beautiful 
natural bridge, formed by a rock falling into a narrow ravine, 
and lodging. The canon is thirty feet wide, and the waters 
pass under the rock over which you pass. 

On reaching the top of the mountain on the west side of Tehi- 
pitee Valley a grand sight presents itself. East is the crest of 
Sierras rising up like a huge wall of rocks in serrated peaks 
while at the rear or towards the west and south, the immense 
pine forests loom up stately and grand. 

North is Tehipitee Dome Rock which rises up the sifle of the 
valley and forms a portion of its walls. 

BEAUTIFUL TEHIPITEE VALLEY. 

Here the scene passes from the grand to the sublime and awe¬ 
inspiring as you creep to the edge of the chasm and peep down, 
down more than 6,000 feet; more than a vertical mile into that 
awful canon. 

The green silvered ribbon wh ch stretches along the bottom is 
a river full 100 feet wide. The roar of the cataract at your 
left serves to give inspiration to the scene. You do not even 
now realize the immense depth of the canon, nor the precipi¬ 
tous condition of its sides. 

Mr. Ferguson, of the Expositor, and Frank Dusy, descended 
into this valley with great difficulty, occupying some four 
hours in getting down and seven hours in returning. 

In reaching the bottom it seems as if you had left the sur¬ 
face of the earth and entered a mere crevice in its foundations, 
a fissure in the great everlasting rocks. The towering peaks 
and overhanging crags seem marching down upon you press¬ 
ing and crowding until it seems a struggle to breathe. The 
forms of the various summits are varied and majestic, and 
vary in height from 4,000 to 6,000 feet. 

STONE HOUSE. 

When on the bottom you pass up the river a half mile, and 
reach “ Stone House” a place used as headquarters, there being 
no house or hut in the valley. This house is formed by an 
immense block of granite sliding down over two huge bowld¬ 
ers and forming a complete room, open at one end, about ten 
by fifteen feet. It has a floor of clear white sand. 




























120 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


SILVER SPRAY FALLS. 

From here a trip is taken to the “ Silver Spray Falls ” along 
up a branch stream. One cannot express their feelings at the 
sight of this truly grand view. The falls descend in three sec¬ 
tions; the first fall is 500 feet, the second one is 600 feet, and 
the third is 800 feet. The water of the latter is separated 
into misty spray before reaching the bottom, and adds much 
to its beauty ; hence its name, “ Silver Spi'ay.” 



Sierra Canon and Waterfall. 


The valley narrows down at the upper end into a canon 
whose walls are perpendicular, and its width only 200 feet, 
including the river. The walls are 2,500 to 3,500 feet high. 

TEHIPITEE DOME. 

Here also can be obtained a view of Tehipitee Dome. It is 
formed of solid granite, and rises to an elevation of fully 6,000 
feet above the valley. Its sides are perpendicular to within 
%bout 1,000 feet of the top when the gradual oval begins, 
which forms a perfect dome in shape. Its name Tehipitee is 
given it by the Indians and means “ high rock.” This dome 
and Silver Spray Falls are near the center of the valley, and 
about one-quarter of a mile distant from each other. 


DESCRIPTION OF TEHIPITEE VALLEY. 

This grand and remarkable valley is about three miles long 
and averages from one to one and one-quarter miles wide. It 
was first entered by Frank Dusy, by the Indian trail. In 
1878 there was discovered another entrance, or trail, which 
was unknown even to the Indians. Some miners found it. 
Afterwards Mr. Dusy entered the valley by it. He says the 
trail must have been made at least twenty years before by 
white men, as trees had been felled by axes and other evidences 
of white men’s work were noticeable. 

In the valley were found remains of a camp-fire, and a grave 
on which stood a pair of boots, mouldering and crumbling with 
age. This trail is passable by mules, but in some places very 
difficult, 

DEPTH OF THIS VALLEY. 

The distance down from the top or rim of the valley, is 
about 6,000 feet, (5,280 feet make a mile) and the valley 
runs east and west or nearly. You enter the lower 
or west end. The valley closes up at the outlet of the 
river into a narrow canon. Mr. Dusy went down this some 
three miles, until he entered another small valley of some sixty 
acres covered with oak timber. It was a perfect little gem 
of a place. 

“Of the terrible grandeur of this valley it is hardly possible 
to convey any idea.” In the valley are many grand cliffs, 
waterfalls and curious things that have as yet not been named 
or examined. It opens a wide field for those who love to 
explore and examine new scenes. 

TRIPLE FALLS. 

Beautiful and remarkable falls exist in the upper valley. 
The river divides into two streams which approach within fifty 
feet of each other, and each then falls 200 feet; the falls in 
descending approach and nearly touch each other and both fall 
into one basin about 100 feet in diameter ; then the united 
waters, after whirling around the basin, drop 400 feet. The 
stream continues on and then a remarkable sight is seen. The 
water falls 180 feet into a small basin which has an opening or 
chimney which carries the spray upwards and above the falls in 
a cloud which is seen for a long way. From above you see only 
the vast column of spray rising out of this chimney or hole. 

A LIVING GLACIER. 

North of this valley is Mt. Goddard, which has been 
explored by Mr. Dusy. Few people have traveled as extensively 
in the Sierra Nevada district as has Mr. Dusy, especially in the 
regions surrounding Mt. Goddard (14,000 ft.) on the head-waters 
of the middle fork of King’s River, and the south fork of the 
San Joaquin. He describes, as seen last summer by himself 
and party, what is more like an Alpine glacier than anything 
seen or heard of in our Sierra, except the living glaciers found 
by John Muir on Mt. Lyall. It was six miles east of Mt. God¬ 
dard, on what may be called the Goddard Ridge—the divide 






















GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


121 


between the south fork of San 
Joaquin River and the middle 
fork of King’s. It was a mass 
of clear, bluish ice, estimated to 
be 80 feet thick at its upper or 
deepest edge, where a vast crev¬ 
ice was found, 10 feet wide, be¬ 
tween it and the snow above 
it. It was about a mile long, 
and from 500 to 600 yards 
wide. On its edges were mo¬ 
raines, composed of shattered 
slate, which Mr. Dusy describes 
as forming there the upper por¬ 
tion of the slope. At the low¬ 
er end was a great mass of this 
slaty debris, which was bein 
shoved along over a sub-strat¬ 
um of solid granite. He judg¬ 
ed that its movement down the 
canon last summer was about 
ten feet, as that was the width 
of the deep crevice on the upper 
edge, between the ice and snow 
[This rate of travel, estimated 
by Mr. Dusy, is undoubtedly 



too great, as we believe no glaciers of the 
Alps have so fast a rate.] 

BLUE CANON FALLS. 

Another remarkable falls in the region 
is called by Mr. Dusy “ Blue Canon 
Falls.” The height of this fall is about 
800 feet perpendicular, and falls direct¬ 
ly into the King’s River. This does not 
include any cascades; but one direct fall. 
The stream is some 30 feet wide. We 
give a very good view of this fall in our 
illustration. 

MONARCH LAKES. 

These two beautiful lakes lie at the 
foot of Miner’s Peak. The upper lake is 
two miles in length by one in width, and 
is surrounded by lofty mountains, which 
give it the appearance of lying in a basin 
hewed from solid granite rock. The 
upper-lake is separated from the lower 
lake by a solid granite dam, to the right 
of which there is an opening, through 
which pour its sparkling waters down a 
steep precipice into the lower lake. The 
lower lake is about half the size of the 
upper one. Both are very deep, and their 
waters are as clear as a crystal. These 
lakes are situated in a very romantic lo¬ 
cality, and the scenery on every side is 
very grand and picturesque. Far away 
rise the granite peaks and tall pines of 
the Sierras, while here and there you see 
other lesser lakes and glimpses of mount¬ 
ain meadows. These lakes must event¬ 
ually become a popular resort to those in 
search of health, rest, trout and game. 
The distance from Mineral King to these 
lakes is about four miles, of access on 
foot or with animals. A short distance 
from these lakes are magnificent forests 
of pine, and mountain meadows, where 
may be found deer in abundance, and at 
certain seasons*of the year the sportsman 
can have the brown and black bear for 
a target. 

NATURAL BRIDGES. 

There are several of these natural 
bridges about this locality. Two of 
them are on Natural Bridge Creek, and 
the bridges which give its name to the creek, span it at a point less than 
a quarter of a mile above its junction with Volcano Creek. The Hockett 
trail crosses the larger bridge. Large junipers grow on and near it. Its 
length is about twenty-five feet, its width at least twelve feet, and the 

























































































































































































































































































































































122 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


height of its level surface is about twenty feet above the bed 
of the limpid stream that dashes wildly through the narrow 
opening beneath it. Height above sea level, 8,300 feet. The 
formation is the deposit from mineral springs containing lime. 
True, a dark basaltic lava exists in large quantities there, and 
for eight or ten miles down Volcano Creek, to its very mouth, 
where the basaltic columns are found. 

A BEAUTIFUL TREE DESTROYED. 

Messrs. McKiernan, Manley, and Hubbs, of Visalia, shipped 
from Tulare City a section of one of the largest, if not the 
largest, of all the big trees that have yet been discovered in 
California. The tree from which this section was taken was 
111 feet in circumference at the butt, and stood 250 feet in 
height, at which elevation it was broken off. At the breaking 
off place in was 12 feet in diameter. These gentlemen had 
been at work getting this section ready for exhibition for 
nearly a year. This section was 14 feet in height, and was cut 
from the body of the tree twelve feet from the ground, the j 
base being so irregular in form, the irregularity extending up 
from the roots, that it was inexpedient to take the lowest part. 
At the distance of twelve feet from the ground, the tree was. 
twenty-six feet six inches ; n diameter, this being the diameter 
of the base of the section exhibited. The top of the tree, or 
stub, as it really was, was felled twenty-six feet from the 
ground, the labor of felling it.occupying four men nine days. 

This great tree made a noise when it came down that rever¬ 
berated through the mountains like a peal of thunder. The 
work of taking out the section, which is exhibited, was then 
commenced from the top. The men dug the inside of the tree 
out with axes, these tools being the only ones that could be 
used to advantage. The wood was left six inches thick, 
exclusive of the bark, which ranges from three to ten inches in 
thickness. 


trees, but they are rapidly disappearing. One Martin Vivian 
was arrested in 187(1, and found guilty of vandalism in cutting 
down one of these large trees. He was fined $50 by the Court. 
He ought to have been imprisoned for life ! He cut it down to 
take to the Centennial at Philadelphia. 

VISIT TO BIG TREES. 

A party who visited this locality in 1882, says: “ We walk 
around them, look up, exclaim and wonder, but find no words 
adequate for the occasion.” The largest “ Gen. Grant,” has 
been measured, and requires an immense amount of twine to 
clasp his giant waist, and is grand and massive in his propor¬ 
tions. Others are called “ The Siamese Twins,” “The Twin 
Sisters,” “ The Centennial,” etc. The largest, and the one of 
most interest to us, is the one from which the section was taken 
to the Centennial. It now lies prostrate, and reminds one of 
the hulk of a great ship in wreck. The interior of the trunk 
has been burned, and the sun pours through the great knot¬ 
holes into a gloomy cavern. 



Felling Bic: Tree for Centennial Exhibition. 


BIG TREE ON EXHIBITION. 

The diameter of the tree where it was felled (the diameter of 
the top of the section that was exhibited) is twent} T -one feet. 
This shell was sawed down, making fifteen gigantic slabs. 
This tree stood six miles away from a public road, and a road 
was built this whole distance, in order to get this section of 
the tree out. Each slab made a load for eight horses. The 
whole fifteen made two car loads. The owners of this great 
natural curiosity exhibited it in the East, and expected to 
make some money out of it, but strange to say, it failed to 
draw, and the owners never realized the first cost of its exhibi¬ 
tion. It was put up on Market Street in San Francisco > 
where the writer visited the interior, which made a large 
room. On one side was a staging, erected for visitors, with a 
band stand on the opposite side. Around the interior were 
hung pictures of other large trees. It would hold a great many 
people atone time, and was a real curiosity. 

Some attempts have been made at times to preserve these 


The rains have come through also, and formed a little lake 
on which one could easily row a boat. We climb on top of 
the great Centennial body, and walk from end to end. 

Standing by one of these patriarchs of the forest, one is first 
struck with what he sees, their mammoth proportions and 
beautiful foliage, but soon the mind endeavors to solve the 
question of age. 

The road that was worked in 1878, for the party to trans¬ 
port the tree over, is now scarcely perceptible, being .filled in 
many places by fallen timber, making it very dangerous to 
attempt a passage over it, besides being considered impractica¬ 
ble. As there was a party last year desirous of visiting the 
spot, and gazing upon the stump, still left standing, J. E. Shuey 
conceived the idea of going there with a six-horse team, 
when he first mentioned it, the party thought that the proper 
place for him was Stockton. The employees at the mill said 
that if he could drive up and down that mountain, he could 
cross the Alps. The feat was accomplished, and a party of 



































GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


123 


fifteen enjoyed a picnic upon the spot where once the shadows 
of the mighty monarch fell; but we are sure that if Hank 
Monk could have seen the manipulator of the ribbons, sending 
that team down those moifntains, on the return trip, he would 
have felt sure that the passengers would be on time (what 

there was left of them), and would have conceded to him the 
palm. 

MOUNTAIN LUMBER FLUME. 

Summit Hill is situated high up on the mountain side, inac¬ 
cessible to wagons ; therefore the lumber has to be sent down 
1,800 feet by a flume, which has such a descent that it is quite 
a sight to see with what rapidity the lumber reaches the foot 
of the mountain. Teams are waiting at nearly all hours of 
the day for loads to Mountain View, and other points farther 
down the valley. 



PARADISE VALLEY. 

From Tehipitee Valley you can go south to Paradise Valley, 
or King’s River Canon, as it was first called. Prof. Whitney, 
who visited this valley, and attempted to go north towards 
Tehipitee (then unknown), reported an ‘‘impassable barrier.” 
But this is found not to be so, and a good trail passes over 
the ridge, or mountain, w’hich is 13,000 feet high, as shown in 
the diagram. 

This valley says Prof. Whitney, is from half a mile to a mile 
wide, and eleven miles long. It is closed at the lower end by a 
deep and impassable canon. It is deeper and its sides more 
precipitous than Yosemite’s. Many points are from 4,000 to 
6,000 feet high. At the head of the valley is a solid rock wall, 
a perpendicular precipice of “ from 6,500 to 7,000 feet high.’’ 
“ It rivals, and in many respects, even surpasses Yosemite in 


altitude of surrounding cliffs.” The altitude of their camp 
at the lower end of this valley, they gave approximately as 
4,737 feet; at the higher, 5,218 feet. This shows a height of 
over 12,000 feet for the cliffs and peak at the upper end, 
which the miners call Mt. Tumble, because huge bowlders 
occasionally rush down its steep declivities, cutting down and 
shivering in pieces pine trees from four to six feet in diameter. 
DESCRIPTION OF PARADISE VALLEY. 

We are indebted for the following information about the 
Paradise Valley to an interesting article, written by J. W. A. 
Wright, who has made several trips to this region, and is 
familiar with the scenery. 

Paradise Valley, or King’s River Canon, is on that branch of 
King’s River, formerly called by Whitney and others the South 
Fork, but which, by later and more thorough exploration, 
proves to be the middle fork of that large stream, the third or 
fourth in capacity among the rivers of California. The valley 
is unexplored for at least five miles. That part of the Middle 
Fork which runs through this valley, is from 150 feet in width 
above, to 200 feet below, and from three to fifteen feet in depth 
at various points; and west of the valley it rushes into a deeper, 
narrower, wilder canon than does the Merced, at the lower end 
of Yosemite. Whitney truly remarks that in only two respects 
has Yosemite the advantage of what is now called Paradise 
Valley, viz., some of its walls, though not so high, are more 
vertical, and its falls are higher. 

'CHARACTER OF THE VALLEY. 1 

Whitney’s description is very accurate in saying: “The 
bottom of the valley is covered with granitic sand, forming a 
soil which supports a fine growth of timber, with here and 
there a meadow. The river abounds in trout.” This timber, 
besides yellow pines ( Pinuspoaderosa ) sugar pines (P. Lamber- 
tiana ) and others of the conifers, some of them eight feet through 
at the base, comprises at least three species of the oak, the 
white ( Quercus hindsii ) black, (Q. Sonomensis ) and live oak 
( Q. agrifolia); also maples ( Acer circinatum) and alders 
(Alnus Oregona). Here the characteristic mountain or 
white cedar of California ( libocedrus decurrens) attains its 
largest size, from six to eight feet in diameter, and fully 150 
feet high. 

COMPARISON WITH YOSEMITE. 

Compare figures of elevations with those for Yosemite, and 
the superior points of Paradise Valley are more clearly seen. 

Level of bottom of Yosemite Valley, about 4,000 feet above 
the sea ; while Paradise Valley is 4,737. 

Width of Merced River in the valley, 70 feet, while width of 
King’s River in Paradise Valley is 200 feet. 

Height of El Capitan above valley, 3,300 feet; North Dome, 
3,568 ; Half Dome, 4,737; and in Paradise Valley are pre¬ 
cipitous cliffs “from 3,500 to 6,000 feet above the base,” 
while at the head of the valley, in a corresponding position 
























































124 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


to Half Dome in Yosemite is a nearly vertical wall from 
G,500 to 7,000 feet high. 

Then the surrounding mountains are much taller. The 

□ 

dividing ridge between the middle and north forks of King’s 
River and twelve miles north of the valley, is at least 13,000 
feet high, but accessible with guides for horses or men, though 
the geological survey did not succeed in finding the route. 

BEAUTIFUL CASCADES. 

Paradise Valley is made beautiful by a number of fine 
cascades, some leaps of which are from 150 to 200 feet ; in 
fact a chain of these cascades called “The Falls,” where the 
Middle Fork enters the east end of the valley, makes an entire 
descent of more than 2,000 feet in a mile and a half, or fullv 



Beautiful Cascades. 


4,000 feet in four miles. Thence toward the west, in succes¬ 
sion, on the north side, Copper, Granite and Deer Creeks ; and 
on the south side, Dubb’s Creek, Roaring River and Summit 
Creek, besides smaller ones, form a series of magnificent 
cascades, winter and summer, without ceasing, which dash 
down precipitous lateral canons, descending from 3,000 to 
5,000 feet in distances, varying from one to three miles. The 
size of this stream led some to call it the south fork of King’s 
River. Its course is very winding, and mostly in deep canons, 
from 300 to 500 feet wide, cut down in solid walls of rock fully 
2,000 feet deep in places. Of this deep gorge, the best view is 
had in passing up the valley. Just before it enters the valley, 
that stream is condensed into a width of from ten to thirty 


feet at different seasons, and plunges at one leap about 100 feet 
over a granite precipice, falling into a round, well-worn basin, 
with a deafening roar. This circular basin, in the solid gran¬ 
ite. is over 200 feet across and at least 30 feet deep. It is full 
of the finest speckled mountain trout, which cannot get above 
it in that direction. Indeed all the other tributaries abound in 
these trout up to their higher falls. 

NAMES OF MOUNTAINS VISIBLE. 

In direct line, about' twelve miles east of the valley, is 
the south end of the Palisades, that grand range of perpen¬ 
dicular cliffs, of comparatively recent volcanic formation, 
along the summit ridge of the Sierra, between Fresno and 
Mono Counties, which range from 13,000 to 14,000 feet in 
: height. 

Mount Goddard, about twenty miles north of northeast, is 
■ 14,000 feet ; Mount Silliman, twenty-two miles south, is 
11,623 feet ; Mount King and Mount Gardner, sixteen miles 
southeast, probably over 14,000 feet; Mount Brewer, twenty- 
three miles southeast, 13,886 feet, and is on a spur embraced by 
two branches of King’s River. Near it ten peaks can be seen as 
high, and perhaps four, higher, according to the geological sur¬ 
vey. Slightly east of south, thirty-two miles, is the lofty 
Kaweah Peak, one of the highest points seen from San Joa¬ 
quin Valley, and estimated to be over 14,000 feet, though its 
exact height has really not been ascertained. Southeast, 
thirty miles, are Mount Tyndall, 14,386 feet, and Mount Wil¬ 
liamson,—” an inaccessible bunch of needles ”—higher still, 
and about two miles north of Tyndall. 

HIGHEST POINT IN UNITED STATES. 

Thirty-eight miles southeast is the culminating point of all 
the Sierra Nevada, Mt. Whitney, whose height is not far 
from 15,000 feet, and whose huge slopes, canons and table¬ 
lands form the immense water-shed that is drained by Kern 
River and its numerous tributaries. 

All these, and hundreds of less-noted peaks, can be seen from 
high points near Paradise Valley. This grand canon of 
King’s River, nestling thus in the midst of the most magnifi¬ 
cent Alpine scenery of America, which surrounds it within a 
radius of fifty miles, is, in straight lines, fifty-five miles north¬ 
east of Visalia, sixty-five slightly north of east from Fresno 
City, thirty miles northwest of Independence, and fifty miles, 
a little east of south, from Mammoth City. From Yosemite 
Valley and its kindred wonders about seventy-five miles.south¬ 
east. 

DOUBLE SUNSET EVERY DAY. 

A remarkable natural phenomenon of this valley is a double 
sunset every day, as seen from near Copper Creek. Regularly 
at 1:30 P. M. the sun passed behind a very high cliff and peak 
on the south side of the great canon. For about two hours it 
would remain concealed from view, and would then burst forth 
again from beyond the western edge of Mount Capitan and 























GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


125 


just over the falls of Roaring River. Then they had a second 
sunset about the same hour that it occurs in San Joaquin 
Valley, the sun seeming to pass down the deep gorge to the 
the westward, where King's River finds its exit towards the 
plain. Few, if any other, regions of our coast, or any other 
country, can claim such sunsets twice a day. Another fact in 
nature worthy of record, is that, because of the dense shade of 
the high walls on the south side of this valley, the snow dis¬ 
appears, trees bud, and flowers bloom on the north side, 
immediately under its perpendicular cliffs—which reflect the 
sun’s rays down into the valley—in February, three months 
sooner than on the south side. In the latter region snow 
remains in the deep crevices and gorges till in June. Similar 
effects of the more or less direct rays of the sun are seen along 
all the southern or northern slopes, not only of the mountains 
of our coast, but throughout the world. The wild flowers of 
this valley are much the same as in Yosemite. 

FIRST PARTIES WHO WINTERED IN VALLEY. 

The first white men to spend the winter of 1877-8 in the val¬ 
ley, says J. W. A. Wright, were W. A. Clark, Wm. Hicks, Wm. 
Hilton, and L. M. Grover, all of them having experience as 
mountaineers and hunters. Leaving Visalia November 10th 
with a pack-train, carrying their winter’s supplies and tools, 
they reached the valley on the 14th, and immediately located 
a camp near the upper end of the valley, north of the river, 
and on the east bank of Copper Creek, from which their 
supply of water was to come. Feed being scarce, as some 
180,000 sheep had been driven through the mountains of 
Fresno that dry summer, of which at least 00,000 were lost, 
they sent out their pack animals to bring additional supplies, 
and made it their first care to put up a substantial cabin, built 
of rough pine logs, well chinked and daubed, having a punch¬ 
eon floor and a substantial stone chimney, supported in part 
by a log frame on the outside. The first week in December the 
pack-train returned with their last supplies, and hurried out 
again that it might not be caught in heavy snow-storms, then 
daily expected on the higher ridges. A few stray stock began 
to gather in the valley around the camp, led by the instinct 
that warns them of the approach of winter, and inclines them 
to seek the presence and protection of man in such isolation. 
These consisted of several small bands of sheep, two cows and 
calves, and five horses, including a handsome young black 
stallion. The latter was the only one of the entire number 
that survived the bears and scarcity of food through the winter, 
though the cold alone was not severe enough to kill them. It 
was mild and pleasant nearly all winter—never severely cold. 
They usually kept their door open all day, except for about 
two weeks. All of which shows this fine valley to be comfort¬ 
ably habitable every winter for men and domestic animals, 
with proper preparation of food and shelter, whenever it 
becomes an object to remain there. 


PLENTY OF GAME. 

Previous to January 20th, they killed three cinnamon and a 
black bear, using their hindquarters and slices of tenderloin for 
meat. Among other game in and around this valley are the 
fine, large gray squirrel ( sciurus fossor ), of our higher 
mountains, occasional flocks of the wild pigeons of California, 
the band-tailed pigeon (Oolumba jasciatu) and the fisher, or 
American sable ( Mustela Pennantii ) the largest of the Marten 
family. The squirrels come in great numbers late in the fall, 
and spend the winter in the valley. There they get abundance 
of acorns, a food of which the bears are also very fond. In 
the dense forests, along the adjacent slopes, however, the dusky 
grouse ( Tetrao obscurus ) is found in sufficient numbers to afford 
good sjjort for hunters. The common dove ( Zenaidura caro- 
linensis), found all over the United States, abounds there in 



A Native Viewing the Scenery. 


summer. They enter the valley in July, from the plains 
below, and remain about three months. Our American robins 
(Turdm migratorius) frequent the valley during the summer. 
The only snakes found there are our ubiquitous rattlesnake, in 
June and July, and the small brown water-snake ( Regina 
valida?) of California. In the neighboring mountains the 
most venomous rattlesnakes, from four to five feet long, have 
occasionally been killed. There are scorpions in the valley, 
but no tarantulas or centipedes. 

ANIMAL LIFE IN THE SIERRAS. 

Three species of bear, the black, cinnamon and brown, are 
occasionally met with as high as 10,000 feet. In mid-summer, 
deer keep close to the snow line. Grouse are numerous in 

































126 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


certain localities, and in the spring their drumming may be 
heard on every hill-side. Mountain quail, roused by the 
traveler, fly in every direction from a common center, and 
generally the quick whir of their vanishing forms is the first 
intimation one has of their presence. Lesser lights of the 
feathered tribe flit 
to and fro among 
the trees, and trill 
sweet lays from 
deep forests. Social 
thrushes, rapping 
wood-peckers, dart¬ 
ing humming-birds, 
gold-tinted finches, 
confiding snowbirds, 
diving water-ousels, 
talkative chicka¬ 
dees, California 
bluebirds, facetious 
owls, narrow-billed 
wood-ducks, and 
chattering blue jays, 
have their habitats 
in the Sierras. 

Among the arbor¬ 
eal quadrupeds, the 
most beautiful is the 
black fox. It has 
a pelage of the finest 
and blackest fur, 
with an eye that 
Cleopatra’s could 
not rival for bril¬ 
liancy. It watches 
the intruder from 
afar, and on his first 
effort to approach, 
disappears among 
the rocks. 

The mountain 
sheep, once common 
in this region, is 
now rarely seen. 

He who visits the 
Sierras to trap the 
black fox, or hunt 
the mountain sheep, undertakes a heroic task, and,one not 
easily accomplished. 

There are many mighty canons and yawning gorges along 
the bottoms of which rush furious rivers and many tributaries. 
There are occasional benches, or narrow, level surfaces, free 
from thicket and occupied by the stately forests; but the most of 


this belt presents deep ravines bristling with tangled thickets, 
where prowl the brown, black, and dreaded grizzly bears, 
with their irascible compeer, the “California lion.” An occa¬ 
sional saw-mill, or hunter’s cabin, or temporary “sheep camp,” 
are the only signs of civilization. 

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS. 

This name was given by Clarence King to one of the big 
trees near Thomas Mill. Standing in rather an open glade, 
where the ground was starred with upland flowers, stood the 
largest shaft we observed. It was a slowly tapering, regularly 
round column of about forty feet diameter, and rising 274 feet, 
which height was accurately measured, and adorned with a few 
huge branches. That which impresses one most after its vast 
bulk and grand pillar-like stateliness, is the thin and incon¬ 
spicuous foliage, which feathers out delicately on the boughs, 
like a mere mist of pale apple-green. Near this tree grew a sugar- 
pine of about 8 feet diameter, and hardly less than 300 feet 
high. For 150 feet the pine was branchless, and as round as if 
turned ; delicate, bluish-purple in hue. Adjoining were two 
firs, which sprang from a common root, dividing slightly as 
they rose about 300 feet. The two firs, King judges, were 
about 300 years old ; the pine 500 years, and the King of the 
Mountains not less than 2,000 years. 

“This monarch is one for whose sake it would be worth 
while to make a long journey to see. It is not in words to 
convey an impression of its granduer, majesty and power.” 

VISIT TO PARADISE VALLEY. 

A correspondent of the Fresno Republican, who went to 
visit the valley in 1882, says : From Fresno to the Big Trees, 
a distance of fifty-five miles, there is a plain wagon road, but 
beyond that the traveler must take it afoot or on horseback. 
Knowing this, we took the entire journey on horseback, carry¬ 
ing our camp equipage on a pack animal. Occasionally for 
fifteen miles are found groves of the sequoia gigantea ; one on 
Boulder Creek containing a large number of monster growths. 
Toiling on, real work is necessary to ascend some of the tower¬ 
ing mountains over which the trail leads. On either hand 
the view was simply grand. From the mountain top, where 
the descent into King’s River Canon begins, looking to the 
north and east the picture is one never to be forgotten, and 
the weird grandeur brought to view is beyond the power of 
pen description. Across the rugged gorge, about twenty miles 
distant, towers Mount Kearsage, whose snowy cap rests 14,500 
feet above the sea. 

Two hours and a half constantly descending will bring you 
to the bootom of the famous canon. Flowing at your feet is 
the south fork of King’s River, fresh, pure and cold from its 
snowy fountain. About half a mile wide and fifteen miles 
long, this canon or valley is walled in by rocky mountains, 
rising perpendicularly 4,000 to 6,000 feet above the river bed. 
Little or no vegetation grows upon these walls of solid rock, 



King or thf Mountains. 

















GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


127 


which tower aloft and seem wholly above and beyond the 
milder influences of nature. While seeming, yet they are not, 
in their granite firmness, beyond the gentle but mighty force 
of the tiny rivulet trickling down their rugged sides. A five 
days'sojourn in this wild place sufficed to show many points 
of great interest. The river abounds with speckled trout 
which take the fly or’hopper eagerly. Along the banks are 
grassy meadows through which the sportive streams come leap¬ 
ing from the rocky cliffs above, and earlier in the season 
foaming cataracts issuing from the melting snows add to the 
otherwise sublime scene. 

GRAND AND INTERESTING. 

Clarence King says : “ We could not find words to describe 
the terribleness and grandeur of the deep canon. The average 
descent is immensely steep. At times the two walls approach 
each other, standing in perpendicular gateways. The ridges of 
one side are reproduced upon the other. It is safe to say that 
the actual rending asunder of the mountain mass determined 
and formed this canon.” 

Bierstadt made a painting of what he termed, “ King’s River 
Canon,” which attracted great attention. It was reported to 
have been sold to an English nobleman for $50,000. 

Judge Winchell says : “ From the forest to the crest of the 

Sierra, is a land of science most awful, of desolation most stu¬ 
pendous, a universe of granite, drear and naked, except when 
robed in snow. Summer tears this robe in tatters, uncovering 
by the middle of autumn, the gaunt ribs and gray crest; but in 
the gorges and on the shaded slopes the snow and ice endure 
forever. From the brink of a precipice at the lower edge of 
this belt, the party mentioned looked down into the chasm of 
King’s River—a vertical mile deep! Lifting up their eyes 
they beheld Mount Whitney, with a long train of lofty peaks 
which barred the east. The flanks, shoulders, and crests of 
these monarchs were of cold, gray granite, spotted with field 3 
of snow. There were endless forms of dizzy walls, towering 
needles, slippery declivities, dreadful yawning gulfs, sullen 
sleeping masses of adamant, that filled the scope of vision for 
fifty miles north and south, as the awe-stricken travelers gazed 
upon the scene. 

In a narrow crevice below them, King’s River lay like a 
shining thread. Descending, for four miles, by a steep though 
coiling trail, they reached the floor of the gorge, finding it the 
rival of Yosemite. 

The valley, one-half a mile wide and twel ve miles long, was 
closed at either end by inaccessible canons. 

Through it, the middle fork of King’s River shot its arrowy 
way. Gentle slopes on each side were clothed in fresh grass 
and fragrant ferns, and shaded by forests of pine. Threading 
the valley to its upper end, they passed, on the right and on the 
left, smooth, perpendicular walls that seemed to woo the clouds 
Such a mural front stood across the eastern extremity of the 


valley. On either hand rose two similar cliffs, completing 
three sides of a square apartment. Through the two corners 
rushed into this space two roaring streams, which instantly 
uniting, formed the middle fork of King’s River. The travel- 
ers pitched their tent at this junction, in an open glade car¬ 
peted with verdure, over which the three towering walls seemed 
to bend. There were speckle ! trout in the berylline waters, 
mountain grouse upon the cliffs, squirrels among the trees, a 
sky shaming that of Italy, a genial October sun. But the 
crowning attraction, beauty, glory and wonder, were those 
three mighty tablets—each a thousand feet broad and four 
times higher—springing like walls of a Titian temple from the 
green carpet to the blue sky. 



Scene in Kern River Canon. (From a painting by A. Bierstadt.) 

KERN RIVER CANON. 

The bottom of another wild, grand and awe-inspiring valley 
is that of the Kern River at its head. The canon runs north, 
and south at the base of Mount Whitney and other 
grand peaks. This valley is 8,000 feet above the sea. The 
canon is quite broad and level, with groves of pine and fir and 
little meadows scattered over its surface. For a long distance 
there are high precipitous walls. The sides are more nearly 
perpendicular than those of Paradise Valley. The walls vary 
in height from 3,000 to 0,000 feet. For nearly twenty miles 
along this canon there is but one point where horses can be 
taken out on the west, and not one on the east. Little meadows 

































128 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


occur every few hundred yards, and there is not the desolate, 
sand-strewn flats that Paradise Valley presents. In riding 
along between these massive walls that rise so high above, one 
cannot but feel as though he had been suddenly let down into 
the interior of the earth. 

The width at the bottom of this huge canon, for thirty or 
forty miles, varies from less than a quarter of a mile to a mile, 
while the upper edges of the beetling cliffs that form its con¬ 
tinuous walls are from one to two miles apart. Near these 
falls the altitude of the river-bed varies from 7,000 to 7,200 
feet, while, judging from the apparent smallness of the trees 
which fringe the upper edges of the cliffs, their height above 
sea-level must range from 9,000 to 11,000 feet. This would 
make the wall-faces tower from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the 
bottom of the canon, while the peaks that crown these walls 
are from 500 to 2,500 feet higher. 

For grandeur it far surpasses Paradise Canon on King’s 
River, which Muir styled the “New Yosemite.” 

Along this canon one in search of pleasure or relief from 
care may loiter away many an interesting day. 

SHA-GOO-PAH FALLS. 

There are five waterfalls from the sides of the canon, that 

» 

are from 1,500 to 3,000 feet high, the water of which 
drops down two or three feet at a plunge, to be dashed into 
spray on a narrow shelf or glanced off’ to similar shelves below. 
The highest of the falls is called Sha-goo-pah, from the Indian 
name of Mount Williamson. Its height is 3,000 feet. There 
are three handsome falls, from 1,500 to 3,000 feet high, formed 
bv small streams that leap over the very precipitous western 
wall of the canon, and another such waterfall coming from the 
east. The highest of these on the west is named Sha-goo-pah 
Falls, as mentioned. 

From the sides come in many smaller canons to remind one 
of Powell’s vivid description of those of Colorado. 

The general monotonous appearance of the gray granite is 
relieved by a variety made up largely of rosy-tinted feldspar 
that forms part of the west canon wall. Above Junction 
Camp this variety has been worn into the forms of columns 
ami needles, that scintillate under the bright beams of the 
morning sun. Throughout this entire region of upper Kern, 
nature seems to have taken a delight in sharp angles and 
striking contrasts. You pass out of the canon onto a plateau 
having a triangular form, and extending south from Mount 
Kaweah about six miles, and which at the base has a width of 
four miles. It is covered with a heavy growth of pine and fir, 
amongst which are countless numbers of fallen trees. Numerous 
meadows dot its surface, and many little brooks flowing from 
Mount Kaweah cross it. 

Near the southern extremity is a shallow lake, half a mile 
long, far surpassing Mirror Lake of Yosemite. 


HEMATITE BASIN. 

The large basin at the head of this valley is called Hematite 
Basin, from an immense ledge of hematite (a peculiar iron ore) 
that is found there. Along the canon and in this basin is a 
considerable variety of rocks and minerals. Diorite, quartz- 
diorite, porphyry, calc-spar, red and green quartzite, tour¬ 
maline, magnetite, tremoffte, hornblende, epidote, pyrites of 
copper, galena and zinc-blende are to be found there. Near 
the head of the canon are two great tables of granulite, thirty 
feet long, and from six to twelve feet wide, as snroth and 
level as if they had been wrought by hand. There are many 
lakelets of varying sizes, and of a common character. Fi'om 



the outlet of each, back to the center, is a smoothly worn and 
very gradually inclined plane. The glacier burnished surfaces 
here are very extensive. 

RED SNOW. 

This peculiar and beautiful sight is met with on these 
mountains at an elevation of 12,000 feet. Mr. Dusy says he has 
seen miles of it on the mountain ranges. When examined 
through a strong microscope these odd and and pretty globules 
are discovered to be of the very small microscopic water plant, 
\protococcus navalis, which gives to this snow its red or crim¬ 
son color. These minute globules appear as round as a ball. 
They propagate by subdivision. The best way to preserve 







GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


129 


them for examination under the microscope, is to melt a bucket¬ 
ful of the red snow, let the coloring substance settle, pour off 
the water and save the red sediment, of which you will have 
about a tablespoonful. Dry this and it forms a pinkish pow¬ 
der, a few particles of which can be moistened and mounted 
for the microscope at any time. They are, beyond question 
the veritable protococcus navalis, discovered first in the Arctic 
regions and then in the Alps, and in late years found in 
abundance on many of the higher mountains of Colorado 
Utah and California. 

Some red snow was found along the upper edge of the huge 
snow-bank in the gorge of Farewell Gap. This snow, which 
was, no doubt, twenty-five feet deep, is the source of the Little 
Kern. This red snow, when scraped up and held in the hand, 
is just like red rock-candy crushed, and its color when melted 
is exactly the same as the water of a red watermelon. 

MOUNT WHITNEY. 

“This grand mountain,” says Clarence King, “is a splendid 
mass of granite, 14,987 feet high, inchiseled and storm-tinted 



a great monolith left standing amid the ruins of a bygone 
geological empire, the summit of the United States.” 

“ At eleven o’clock the next morning Knowles and I stood 
together on the topmost peak of Mount Whitney. We found 
there a monument of stones and records of two parties who 
had preceded us. The first, Messrs. Hunter and Crapo, and 
next Robe, of Geological survey. The first, so far as 
we know, who had ascended this summit. Mr. Robe made the 
first measurements. We were all there within a month.” 

THE devil’s LADDER. 

The most difficult portion of this steep climb is what is 
called the Devil’s Ladder. This begins at a height of about 
13,000 feet, and extends upward at least a quarter of a mile, 
between perpendicular outcroppings of rock, forty or fifty feet 
apart, and looking very much like the “ Devil’s Slide ” in 
Weber Canon, on the Union Pacific Railroad. By such zig¬ 
zags as one does not often see, even on mountain trails, mules 
lightly packed can make the ascent with great difficulty, it 
being necessary at one point for men to unpack them and 


remove the articles one by one to a point fifty or sixty feet 
above, and there repack the animals. Some of his pack animals 
were the first that ever reached the summit of Whitney, and 
considerable work had to be done on a trail before the feat 
could be accomplished. 

VIEW OF MOUNT WHITNEY. 

We here present an engraving of Mount Whitney, furnished 
us by Captain Wright, who says that though plain, this 
engraving is very accurate, and gives correctly the appearance 
of this grand and noted peak, as seen from the deep, wild, 
rocky gorge immediately west of it, known as Whitney Canon. 
Down this canon Whitney Creek pioper flows southwest to the 
main Kern, about eight miles distant in a straight line. It 
also presents faithfully the outlines of the true Mount Whitney 
as seen from the elevated tablelands to westward, on both the 
east and west side of the immense canon of the main Kern . 
also from Mount Kaweah, located some ten or twelve miles in 
a direct line, slightly south of west from Mount Whitney; and 
from the high divide still farther west, in which is the precipi¬ 
tous Cliff Pass, 12,000 feet above sea level, and which forms 
the west wall of Jenny Lind Canon, through which flows a 
large westerly branch of Kern River, called by the miners 
Crabtree Creek, from one of their number. 

One remarkable thing about a view from Mount Whitney 
is that while you stand on the highest point in the United 
States, 15,000 feet above the sea, you overlook the renowned 
“Death Valley,” but seventy-five miles away—that rainless, 
lifeless, bone-strewn valley, the lowest land in America—three 
hundred and seventy-seven feet below sea level. 

Due south can be seen the bold outlines of the San Gabriel 
Mo un t a i ns ) near Los Angeles, and a range of mountains on the 
Colorado River, 200 miles away. 

SIGNAL STATION OF MOUNT WHITNEY. 

In accordance with orders from the War Department, there 
was established a Signal Station on Mount Whitney, and the 
United States flag officially raised, August 16, 1881. 

A trail was made, which was, perhaps, three or four miles in 
length from camp to camp, by which the pack mules, by dint 
of hard climbing, carried to the summit the tent, bedding 
and a few instruments, with enough food and fuel—a quarter 
of a cord of wood—to last during the four days and nights 
that part of the corps made observations there, September 2d 
to 6th. So, as far as packing up supplies is concerned, that 
can be done, but not without the severest and prolonged exer¬ 
tion of man and beast. 

LADIES ASCEND MOUNT WHITNEY. 

Towards the end of July, 1877, a party of ladies and gentle¬ 
men from Porterville started on an excursion to Mount Whit¬ 
ney. At Fish Lake they met Mr. Wm. Crapo, one of the 
guides of Captain Michaelis’ party. He went with them, and 
hey undoubtedly ascended to the summit of the true Mount 
















130 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


Whitney, and left their record in its monument, with 
the names of Clarence King, John Muir, A. H. Johnson and 
some of Lieutenant Wheeler’s party. Mr. Crapo told so much 
of the plucky perseverance of one of tie ladies under peculiar 
disadvantages, to surmount all the difficulties of that most 
arduous climb, that by common agreement it was felt a prom¬ 
inent peak should be named in her honor. The party who 
made the ascent consisted of Judge Redd and wife, and two 
sons, George and Robert, Miss Hope Broughton, Miss Mattie 
Martin, H. E. Ford, Kit Carson Johnson, Luther Anderson 
and N. B. Martin, with the lady teacher after whom the, 
mountain referred to is named—Miss Anna Mills. It was 
undecided for a time which peak to name for her, but the final 
selection was a long, high peak just south of Loomis Canon 
and about four miles south of Mount Guyot. It is certainly 
between 13,000 and 14,000 feet in altitude. Even in Septem¬ 
ber there was considerable snow near its summit. It lies along 
the regular route to Mount Whitney. 

TWO-MAN-I-GOO-YAH PARK. 

The unanimous conclusion of the Wright party was that 
Congress should establish in connection with the signal station 
on Mount \\ hitney a National Park, on somewhat the same 
plan as the “ Yellowstone Park.” It was believed that twenty 
miles square, or 400 square miles, around Mount Whitney 
would include sufficient area for this purpose. Or twenty 
miles north and south by twenty-five east and west might be 
better, as this would embrace the Kaweah group, with its 
meadows and abundant forests of hackmatack. This would 
make the area extend ten miles north and ten miles south of 
Mount Whitney; seven miles east of it, to the base of the 
Sierra in Owen’s River Valley, and eighteen miles west of it, 
including the upper twenty miles of the truly grand canon of 
the main Kern, with the five high waterfalls dashing over its 
precipitous cliffs from 1,500 to upwards of 3,000 feet in height. 
This Government reservation it is proposed to call Two-man- 
i-goo-yah Park. 

Four thundering streams leap out of the snow from beneath 
the throne of Mount Whitney. They rush down the western 
slope of the Sierra into that great and undivided valley, the 
south half of which is called Tulare, from its tide marshes, the 
north half San J oaquin, from its chief river. From Mt. Whitney’s 
southern base the north fork of Kern River flows southwardly 
along the lofty rugged valley between the main ridge of the 
Sierra and its inferior counterpart as far as Walker’s Pass, v\ hen, 
joining with the south fork, they together turn to the west, 
break through all the mountain barriers, and launching upon 
the peaceful Tulare Plain pour into the wide “ Lake of the 
Tulares.” Bakersfield, the county-seat, is in the midst of the 
plain near the river. 

From the mountain’s western base flows westerly the 
Kaweah, down deep gorges and over plunging falls to the 



valley’s edge, where it instantly unbraids into four streams, 
that meander across the plain to the Tulare Lake and are 
called the “Four Creeks.” They traverse and embrace a rich 
alluvial “delta” in the midst of which, guarded by giant oaks, 
stands the village of Visalia. 

From the northwestern front of the mountain the south 
fork of King’s River goes forth to wed the middle fork, is a few 
miles below joined by the north fork, and becomes a strong and 
headstrong stream. 

Lastly, from the northern side of Mount Whitney the splen¬ 
did rivulets of the south fork of the San Joaquin shape their 
rise. They flow northward between parallel chains for thirty 
miles and then turn abrupt¬ 
ly to the west and commin¬ 
gle with those of the north 
fork, which rises near Yo- 
semite, roar and tumble 
along dark, unfathomed 
caverns, falling thousands 
of feet in the course of for¬ 
ty miles. Among the foot¬ 
hills they pass the town of 
Millerton, once the couuty 
seat of Fres- 
n o County; 
thence into 
the level pam¬ 
pas of the 
great valley, 
westerly for 
forty miles > 
where sweep¬ 
ing slowly 
around to the 
northward in 


a great curve 


Twin Falls. 


they roll lazily off to the Golden Gate. Directly opposite this 
region, lies the Owen’s River Valley, the county of Inyo. 
That valley is essentially of volcanic character. Mono Lake 
is a veritable Dead Sea. 

Between the remaining basalt-capped hills are many peace¬ 
ful and picturesque vales that have been scooped out by the 
hand of nature since the fiery epoch closed ; and pretty cottages, 
with tiny farms, orchards and vineyards, are now nestled in 
dreamy repose and fancied security, in spots where once, a 
thousand feet above them, flowed endless, fearful, incandescent 
tides of fluid granite. 

Along this belt are found many small creeks and rivulets, fed 
by the winter rains, and occasional springs flowing through 
secluded, narrow vales of rich soil, where pioneers have fenced 
and cultivated a few acres, reared their unpretending cottages 
and gathered about them flocks and herds. 















GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


131 


THE KAWEAH BUTTES. 

We here give the only engraving ever made of four of 
California’s most noted peaks, Mounts Albert, Henry, Le 
Conte and Kaweah. It is from a drawing hastily made by 
Rev. F. H. Wales, one of the party of three who were explor¬ 
ing the upper Kern in 1881—Wallace, Wales and Wright. It 
was made—the impromptu artist seated on a huge bowlder— 
on the frosty morning that they left “ Camp Kaweah,” where, 
for part of three days, they pitched their cosy tent near a 
clear, cold brook in the edge of a dense tamarack forest, on 
the southern side of a large, open, sandy meadow, and-, as 
nearly as they could estimate, about three miles south ot the 
highest point of Mount Kaweah, as shown in the engraving. 
The high, massive and very grand peak on the south end 
of this ridge is the true Mount Kaweah, and is shown on 
the right in the engraving. The sharp point farthest north, or 
on the left side of the engraving, is Mount Albert, The next 
peak south, or just to the right of it, is Mount Henry. The 
sharp point seen here between Mount Henry and Mount 
Kaweah has not yet been named, “ but permit me,” says Mr. 
Wright, “to suggest the propriety of calling it Mount Le 
Conte, in honor of Prof. Joseph Le Conte, of the University of 



California, whose labors have done so much to solve the pecu¬ 
liar difficulties of the geology of California.” All four of these 
most prominent peaks of this group are of nearly the same alti¬ 
tude—that is, they are all about 14,000 feet high. 

ASCENT OF MOUNT KAWEAH. 

That afternoon the last-named party searched for the best 
route to reach the summit of the grand peak. No sign of a 
trail appeared, nor evidence that men had been there. They 
found the ascent comparatively easy for animals, however, far 
up above the timber line. The Indian word, it seems, is repre¬ 
sented by the syllables Kah-wah, with accent on the last. 
Literally it means, “ I sit here,” or as we may more appropri¬ 
ately render it in English, “ Here I dwell,” or “ Here I rest.” 
Kah-wah. 

By noon they had wound their way on horseback, among 
primeval forests and rocks, above the last scrubby specimens of 
the pinus contorta, to a height of 12,500 feet. Here they 
lunched and left their horses tied to huge bowlders. This was 


in a sandy sag on the southwest slope, just below the lowest of 
four large snow-fields, shown in the engraving as irregularly 
bounded spots. Thence they moved to the west, climbing 
from rock to rock, upwai'd and ever upward, soon wearied and 
out of breath. None can have a conception of the extreme 
exertion and utter exhaustion from time to time of this roimh 

O 

and trackless peak climbing. At three P. M. Mr. Wright had 
reached the top of the lower peak, just above the first three 
snow-fields. Its height was found to be not far from 13 350 
feet. His comrades, lighter weights and more practiced moun¬ 
tain climbers, were by this time on the highest point and were 
busy selecting material for a monument with which to crown 
the summit. At 4:40 p. M. all were united on the highest point. 
Here, after careful examination, not the slightest trace was 
found that any human being had ever been there before. 

NAMING THE MOUNTAINS. 

Many of these distinct peaks are not yet named. The 
exploring party of 1881, of Wright, Wales and Wallace, gave 
names to some of the most prominent. Mount Young, one of 
many huge peaks in that vicinity, was never named until that 
summer. Mr. Wales ascended it alone, on Tuesday, September 
7th, with instruments, to take its altitude, build a monument 
and leave a record of its name, and the name of another hand¬ 
some peak just south of it, which, from his suggestion, was 
named Mount Hitchcock. 

It became evident, says Mr. Wright, that we were already in 
the heart of our least frequented Sierras, and that we could 
with propriety indulge in the pardonable pastime of mountain 
naming, where so many towering nameless peaks were piercing 
the blue sky around us. From this commanding point the 
view in every direction was superb—a really magnificent pan¬ 
orama of peaks and gorges, including the massive Kaweah 
group to the westward, and King’s River divide, north of us. 
Immediately west of us was a bare granite cone or pyramid, 
with great snow masses (September 3d) on its northern and east¬ 
ern slopes. This the party agreed, at Wright’s request, to call 

MOUNT GUYOT, 

In honor of the distinguished Swiss geologist and geographer, 
whose lectures for two years at Princeton, New Jersey, are 
among the pleasantest recollections of his college days. The 
pass was also named Guyot Pass. The long, sharp, bare granite 
peak, just east of Guyot Pass, extending from southeast to 
northwest a full half mile, and with huge snow-fields along its 
crest, we named 

MOUNT AGASSIZ. 

We felt it was appropriate, that those who had been bosom 
friends in youth, and in Neufthatel, in Switzerland, and 
whose mutual, scholarly labors, as leading naturalists have 
done so much for American science since they made this their 
adopted land, should thus have their names closely associated 
among our snowy Sierra, so like their native Alps and Jura 









132 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


Mountains. Mr. Wallace made the ascent of Mount Guyot, 
and built a monument on its top. He found its altitude was 
at least 13,500 feet. On the same principle, after they ascended 
Whitney, and from its summit had viewed, with Captain 
Michaelis and others, a number of newly-named peaks, and 
found many still unnamed, they decided, at Mr. Wales’ sugges¬ 
tion, to call two handsome granite peaks, three or four miles 

west and southwest of Whitney, and on each side of the 
entrance to Whitney Canon, 

MOUNTS YOUNG AND HITCHCOCK, 

The former on the north side, the latter on the south. These 
were in honor of Professor Young, the noted astronomer, now 
at Princeton, and Professor Charles Hitchcock, of Dartmouth, 
where Mr. Wales spent his college days. With our aneroid, 
Mr. Wales found that the altitude of Mount Young is about 
13,600 feet, the mercury of the standard thermometer showing 
a temperature in the shade (on the summit) of 48°, and in the 
sunshine 66°. He built a monument some five feet in height, 
and in it placed the record of the naming of Mounts Young and 
Hitchcock. 

Now as regards the manner in which these names were 
given : Mounts Michaelis and Langley, with Keeler’s and 
Day’s Needles, were named after the leaders of the scientific 
corps and their two assistants, Messrs. Johnson and Crapo 
their California guides, and were afterward accepted by com¬ 
mon consent. 

By looking from the summit of Whitney in the direction 
indicated, Mount Michaelis can be easily distinguished as a 
handsome dome and large terrace on each side, looking 
altogether not unlike the section of a huge earth-work and its 
apron. Mount Langley, just to its left, is known by a minaret 
or obelisk, that seems to stand on the north edge of its summit. 
It is known among mountain prospectors as 
MILESTONE MOUNTAIN, 

And on clear days can be distinguished with a good glass, or 
even with the naked eye, from the plains of Tulare and Fresno 
Counties. Mounts Hazen and Benet were named by Captain 
Michaelis, after two of our Generals, his army chiefs. Hazen is a 
long, flat mountain, percipitous on its north side, and is marked 
on some maps as Table Mountain. Benet is easily distinguished 
as a very dark, almost black, double peak. 

The noted Mount Brewer, named after the chief of one of 
Professor Whitney’s geological parties, is readily known by its 
great height and its deeply notched top. 

Mount Wallace is a tall, pyramidal peak, about midway 
between Tyndall and Benet. Mount Wales is a sharp peak 
just left of Langley, and is marked by a dark red iron-stain 
along its southern slope. Mount Wright is a high, regularly 
shaped sugar-loaf, just to the right of Hazen. 

Captain Michaelis, of his own volition, named these last 
three peaks after the party of explorers we have mentioned. 


OUR MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 

So much of the Sierra Nevada mountain scenery, says Hon. 
E. C. Winchell.. as reaches from Walker’s Pass on Kern 
River, to Yosemite, on the Merced, a distance of two hundred 
miles, is the highest land in the United States. 

The trend of the rangfe is northwest and southeast. The 
eastern front is bold and steep, falling abruptly down to Owen’s 
River Va'ley, whose plain cuts the range at an elevation of five 
thousand feet. 

A complete sketch of the western features of the Sierra be¬ 
tween the Kern and the Merced, must include an outline of 
the visible traces of ancient volcanic action among its heights. 
The extent of such traces is as yet unknown, the geological 
survey being unfinished. For twenty or thirty miles along the 
San Joaquin they address every eye. From some old crater 
not yet discovered, broad streams of lava ran down the mount¬ 
ain side—filling and following ancient river beds down to the 
beach of the antediluvian sea which then submerged the San 
Joaquin Valley. Spreading over a gentle glacis and covering 
many miles of the old sea-shore, the fluid lava became solid. 
Time’s sharp tooth has, since the sea fell back to its present 
line, gnawed away most of the lava fields. On the south bank 
of the San Joaquin, a mile above Millerton, is a bold escarpment, 
a thousand feet high, capped by a level tablet of black, basal¬ 
tic lava, from ten to one hundred feet in thickness, according 
to the undulations of the original surface on which it lies. As¬ 
cending to the top of this table, the beholder finds it reaching 
back many miles eastward, having a slight incline upwards; 
that it presents a breadth of several miles, appearing on both 
sides of the San Joaquin River, which stream lies one thou¬ 
sand feet below him, in the bottom of a gorge that has been 
cut down, through the lava tablet and through the underlying 
hills of granite, since the molten flood cooled off. Looking 
westwards toward the plain, he sees numerous detached ridges 
and isolated hills, one or two miles in front and on either hand, 
capped with the same basalt, and all in the same plane, having 
a very gentle slope to the west; and far out in the plain, five 
or six miles distant, on the opposite side of the San Joaquin 
River, he beholds the terminus of the glacis distinctly and indu¬ 
bitably marked by a bold precipitous ridge two or three miles 
long, one hundred and fifty feet high, ranging north and south, 
capped with imperfectly fused lava and conglomerate, still in 
the same inclined plane with the other peaks, and which, by 
examination, he finds continuing still onward, into the valley. 

These evidences indisputably demonstrate that ages ago a 
stupendous river of molten rock and earth was poured out of 
the western flank of the Sieri’a, from some high point east 
of Millerton, which, confined at first, perhaps, in deep, narrow 
canons or river beds, found, as it neared the sea beach, more 
room to spread and widen, till, entirely disengaged from hill 
and gorge and approaching a low, gentle shore, it flowed to the 
right, left, andas forward into the seething waves that cooled it. 





grand and sublime scenery. 


133 


THE VISALIA ROUTE. 

If you go by the Visalia Route, the first grove visited is 
about three miles north of the mill. A toll road, thirty miles 
long, winds in its length among the spires of the Sierra Nevada 
Mountains, and taps Mineral King Mining District, and ena¬ 
bles the tourist to approach the wildest and most romantic 
scenery in the United States, at the head of King’s and Kern 
Rivers. The living glaciers silently grind the subjacent rocks, 
and mountains whose majesty or grotesqueness are unsurpassed 
in this country, thi’ow their sombre shadows across valleys as 
yet untrodden by the foot of man. But as one tourist after 
another scales these giddy heights, and from some narrow 
defile drinks in the beauty of the scene in the secluded valley 



below, a spirit of adventure is awakened which longs to com¬ 
mune with nature in her fondest seclusion, and erelong all 
these mountain wilds will be penetrated. 

About three-fourths of a mile in a westerly direction, close 
to a stream, is a fine tree known as the “ Girdle,” or “ Old 
Maid,” which is eighty-six feet in circumference, very tall and 
straight. Some years ago some Vandal.st made an attempt to 
cut this tree down in order to get a section, but after cutting 
around was prevented by Mr. Willett, then register of the land 
office. The tree still lives and will in all probability for cent¬ 
uries. 

A more stringent law should be enacted to prevent their 
destruction. They are monuments of vegetable growth which 
should be preserved for the admiration of the world that will 
through future ages ever gaze with wonder and amazement 
upon their magnificence and grandeur. While the ti’ees of 


which we have spoken are confined to small groves, evei-y where 
through the forest, for miles around, may be found trees of 
enormous size. 

THE CLIMATE. 

The climate through this section < is delightful during the 
spring and summer months. It is cool and dry, and not subject 
to cold, frosty mornings, as that of many other mountainous 
countries. The scenery through the vicinity is magnificent. 
Huge towering peaks, deep gorges, and rocky canons are 
among the interesting features. Bears and deer abound just 
beyond. Ten or twelve miles further on, and to the northeast, 
is the King’s River Canon, with its high walls and rugged 
cliffs, through which flows the King’s River. 

THE GENERAL GRANT. 

“ The giant of all living trees, called ‘ General Grant,’ is 
growing on the edge of a ravine. We measured it and found 
it was 104 feet in circumference about four feet from the base, 
but through the carelessness of some one a portion of the tree 
had been burnt at the base, and if the tree had been symmet¬ 
rical in form at the base there is no doubt of it measuring 
120 or 125 feet. This tree, like all its competitors, though 
standing straight as an arrow for upwards of 300 feet, and 
without a limb for fully 200 feet, the extreme top has been 
broken off by the winds, or some unknown cause. There are 
limbs toward the top of this giant tree that look as though 
they would measure from nine to twelve feet in circumference. 
The age of this tree and the hundreds of others whose circum¬ 
ference is not so large as this one, I think is mere conjecture 
on the part of any man. There are about forty or fifty trees 
that can be seen from the General Grant, whose circumference 
will range from 75 to 100 feet each, and in height, from 200 
to 300 feet, and perhaps a little higher.” 

BEAUTIFUL SNOW PLANTS. 

“In the basin close to the remaining snow was seen the won¬ 
derful snow-plant whose flower-stem shoots up in the shape of 
a large conic-shaped sugar-pine burr, and grows to a height of 
two and a half feet. The color of the flower is a bright crim¬ 
son red; the shape of each blossom resembles the formation of 
a double hyacinth, and grows close and compact around the 
stem, the center of which is pithy and spongy. The bloom 
has four petals, is starainate and pistillate, and consequently it 
may be an annual. 

HEAT AND COLOR OF THE SUN. 

Wm. C. Wyckoff, in Harper’s Magazine for June, says the 
Mount Whitney observations show the sun to be hotter than 
was supposed. The heat received at the earth’s surface is 
probably more by one-half than was estimated by Herschel 
and Pouillet, and even materially exceeds the values assigned 
by more recent investigators. 

















134 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY 


A TRIP TO MOUNT WHITNEY. 

At our request, Rev. F. H. Wales, editor of the 
Alliance Messenger, furnished the following account 
of his trip in this region:— 

“ It was on a warm summer morning that our 
pack-train left Edward’s Camp, on the opposite side 
of Farewell Gap from Mineral King. 

“I had tarried here four days, waiting for Wright 
and Wallace, and had climbed ‘Bullion Peak,’ 12,- 
000 feet elevation, just to try my pluck. Had also 
caught trout, and drank of that delicious soda 
spring a mile or so down the ravine, hunted grouse 
and quail, and geologized to my heart’s content, 
and was really glad to get off. 

“ Down the ravine some six miles we struck the 
‘ Hocky Trail,’ and traversed its winding way, with 
steep mountains on every hand. 

“ At noon we halted in ‘ Round Meadow ’ for 
dinner, and, while Wallace attended the horses, and 
Captain spread the lunch, I took the rod and 
sampled the little stream which gurgled by our 
camp ground. By the time the fire was burning 
brightly and the kettle boiling, I had thirty-one of 
the beautiful ‘ rainbow ’ trout, the first we had seen. 

BEAUTIFUL LAKES. 



Mount Whitney observations firmly establish the fact that 
the sun is blue. The particular shade of color which it has, if 
viewed without int rvening atmosphere, may be laid down as 
that on the border of the blue near the green, about where the 
line F appears in the spectrum. Sad to say, this 
is not an “sesthetic” hue; it is more like that 
referred to in one of Souther’s poems: “You could 
almost smell brimstone, their breath was so blue, 
for he painted the devils so well.” 


boarded some four or five fishermen from Lone Pine, who fish 
in the lakes and pack the trout in wet grass, and on mules 
take them to that iuland place, where a good market is ever 
ready. “Runckle keeps a stock of such things as mountain 


“ That night we camped in a long valley known 
as ‘ Trout Meadow,’ and next day arrived at Fish 
Lakes, where we tarried over Sunday. 

“These are two picturesque little lakes caused 
by an avalanche from the mountains during the 
earthquake in 1868. Jo Palmer, one of the guides, 
told us he was camped near by and heard the ter¬ 
rific crash caused by the fall. He thought it the 
‘day of Judgment.’ These lakes are filled with 
stumps of decayed trees and abound in fish,—trout, 
roach, suckers, chub, etc. 

“Here we regaled ourselves on a two-pound silver 
trout which I caught while the Captain got breakfast ready. 
I had five of these beauties by the time the coffee was boiled. 

“Two miles on we came to Runckle’s, a ninety-acre ranch 
en ced in, and a few log houses, a kind of frontier tavern. Here 


The “Twin Sisters” of Visalia Grove. 

travelers and sheep men need. Here is a good soda spring, also. 

“Crossing the Kern here we passe 1 the natural bridges formed 
of ‘ tufa’ rather than lava, as we at last decided by an applica¬ 
tion of vinegar. 







































































GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY 


135 


“We spent that night at Red Mountain, one of the most 
perfect extinct craters imaginable, formed like an oval bowl 
on top, with one side crushed out, and the river of lava, stretch¬ 
ing miles away, easily traceable. 

“ Here we should have gone directly to Laguna Camp, but 
we were misdirected and went round by Diaz meadows. He 



Sha-goo-pah Falls, 3,000 Feet High. 


is a Spaniard who has a large sheep and cattle range. Cross¬ 
ing over Cora Whitney Pass, at 1,200 feet altitude, we reached 
Laguna Camp. 

THE PALISADES. 

“ Next day we ascended through ‘ Rampart ’ Canon, one of 
the grandest places on the route, a beautiful dell of 1,000 
acres, surrounded by palisades from 500 to 1,000 feet high and 


apparently vertical. At Rampart Pass we caught sight of 
what we supposed to be Mount Whitney. It proved to be the 
Kaweah group. Our trail here averaged from 10,000 to 11,000 
feet high much of the time. Passing Mills Mountain and 
Guyot on the left and Agassiz on the right, we caught a glimpse 
at last of Mount Whitney’s oval dome, with Mount Hitchcock 
guarding it on the right and Mount Young on the left. These 
are 13,600 feet high. 

“A good trail now leads up to the very summit of Mount 
Whitney, and even mules have been there. Some six or eight 
parties had visited the summit before our own, and the United 
States party, under Professor Langley, was there at the time. 
[See Harper’s Monthly for May, 1883.] 

A GRAND CANON. 

“ We went as far north as Mount Tyndall, whence we could 
look down upon the head-waters of the south fork of King’s 
River; then turning south passed down one of the grandest 
canons in the world. With steep acclivities almost vertical, 
from 2,500 to 3,500 feet in height, five falls came tumbling over 
and turned to spray before reaching the bottom. 

“A grand resort for the sportsman, and we conceived, and, 
together with the scientific party, developed the scheme of 
having this whole country, twenty by thirty miles—which is, 
and, from its location, must ever remain, a wilderness—set 
apart by Government as a public park, similar to the Yellow¬ 
stone. 

LIVING GLACIER AND PINK SNOW. 

“ Leaving this magnificent scenery, we doubled and passed 
up Jenny Lind Canon, at the very head of which we found a 
small living glacier and quantities of pink snow, in which our 
tracks looked like blood. Acres and acres of glacier-polished 
rocks are on every side, proving what the past has seen in 
these parts. 

“Having ascended Mount Kaweah, 14,000 feet high, and 
finding no evidence that any one had ever preceded us, we built 
our monument and left our diary there. Winding a tortuous 
way round Clift'Pass, among precipices steep, and inland lakes 
of surpassing beauty, we at length reached Mineral King via 
Timber Gap, and next day ascended Miner’s Peak, 14,200 feet 
high.” 

NAMES AND HEIGHT OF MOUNTAINS. 

Altitudes of peaks of Sierra Nevada of Tulare County, Cal¬ 
ifornia: Mt. Whitney about 15,000; Mt. Williamson, 14,400; 
Mt. Tyndall, 14,386; Sheep Mountain, 14,300; Mt. Henry, 
14,200; Mt. Abert, 14,100; Mt. Kaweah, 14,000; Mt. Brewer, 
13,886; Mt. Young, 13,600; Mt. Guyot, 13,500; Mt. Garfield, 
13,100; Miner’s Peak, 12,800; Mt. Silliman, 11,600. 

Mt. Agassiz, Mt. Hitchcock, Mt. Le Conte, Mt. Mills, Mt. 
Michaelis, Mt. Hazen, Mt. Langley, Mt. Benet, Mt. Wallace, Mt. 
Wales, Mt. Wright, and Mile Stone Mountain are all between 
13,000 and 14,000 feet, but they have never been measured 
exactly. 
















































































































































































136 


GRAND AND SUBLIME SCENERY. 


grant’s white sulphur springs. 

These springs ai’e in the southeastern part of Mariposa 
County, within a mile of Fresno County. Except to the 
neighbors, they were unknown, and outside of the world, until 
purchased by Judge Grant, of Iowa, eighteen months ago. 
He has built a first-rate wagon-road from Madera and Borenda 
to these springs, and ex¬ 
tended it to the Mariposa 
road, to Yosemite, thirty- 
nine miles distant, at 
Cold Spring. 

There are 13 springs; 
the ground and rocks are 
of a white color, and are 
charged with sulphur, 
iron, and magnesia; they 
are said to discharge the 
largest volume of water 
of any mineral springs 
in California. The water 
makes a cubic column of 
eight inches and supplies 
enough to water eighty 
acres of land. The springs 
are in a gorge of the 
mountains 3,200 feet a- 
bove the sea, and, being 
on the shortest road from 
the railway to the Yo¬ 
semite, will become a fa¬ 
vorite resort for tourists 
and invalids. 

THE NEW HOTEL. 

A good hotel has just 
been completed, with 
baths from the mineral 
waters, and the owner 
will not only have it well 
kept but will not permit 
any extortion on visitors. 

The waters are said to be curative of all diseases of the blood 
and dyspepsia. The climate is twenty degrees cooler than on 
the plains below. 

GRAND AND INSPIRING. 

Silence reigns on the heights of the Nevadas save when the 
scream of the Sierra eagle or the loud report of the avalanche 


interrupts the frozen stillness, or when in symphonious fullness 
a storm rolls through the vacant canons and exhausts its fury 
upon the impenetrable rocks. 

“ Our Sierras,” says W. B. Wallace, “ hold in their depths 
riches other than gold and silver. The student of nature can 
here find much that will sharpen his perception, and augment 

his knowledge. There is 
something ennobling in 
mountains. The mount¬ 
ain-climber obtains ideas 
of vastness, of intensity, 
and of sublimity, which 
the plainsman never real¬ 
izes. And there is a 
fascination in his w'ild 
life which, when it has 
once laid hold on the in¬ 
dividual, reluctantly loos¬ 
ens its grasp. He finds 
health, strength, quie¬ 
tude, and suggestive facts 
in his surroundings, and 
when fatigued by weary 
rambles, he obtains com¬ 
forting repose on a rock 
pillow, and lulled to sleep 
by falling waters, and 
the sad, sweet music of 
swaying pines, he dreams 
dreams that are iris-hued. 

EASILY DECEIVED. 

4.n attenuated atmos¬ 
phere disturbs one’s ideas 
of distance. Not unfre- 
quently a man sets out 
to climb a mountain 
ridge he estimates to be 
but two or three miles 
distant, and after travel¬ 
ing half a day discovers 
that he has undertaken a walk of eight or ten miles. The 
atmosphere of these elevated regions seems to be a vital and 
invigorating air. 

Granite mountains do not always take on the same form. 
That which they most commonly assume is the dome shape, 
similar to the Castle Peaks of Yosemite. 



Scene in the Sierras. 


This article on the preceding pages entitled “Grand and Sublime Scenery,” is now issued in pamphlet form, making a book of about 
eighty pages. It also contains a large number of other engravings from sketches by Wales and Eisen, and from photographs by Dusy. It 
may be had on remitting the price, fifty cents, to the publishers, W. W. ELLIOTT & CO., 421 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, Cal. 
It is a good work to send to your friends and induce them to visit this scenery. The object of this little work is to call the attention of our 
own people, as well as those who may visit us, to a comparatively unknown and unexplored region abounding in Grand Scenery, wild and 
unvisited by tourists. It thus affords all the more pleasure to lovers of nature in all her undisturbed glory and grandeur. Hoping these 
imperfect pages and sketches may incite others to a thorough exploration and penciling of our Alps, is our only hope of reward. 
















BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


137 


Botany of the County. 

BY PROF. W. A. SANDERS. 

No COUNTY in California surpasses this in number and 
variety of indigenous plants, extending, as it does, from the 
Alpine region of the high Sierras, downward across a large 
area of mountain, swamp and heavy forests, deep shaded 
canons, high foot-hills, low hills of clay and gravel, river bot¬ 
toms, broad plains and alkali flats along the region from Tulare 
Lake to the San Joaquin River, each with a flora distinctly its 
own. Over 1,500 species of plants are known to exist in this 
range of soil and climate. To name and give location of all 
these would demand more space than our present limits, so I 
have determined to omit the unimportant, and in doing so have 
discarded the botanical arrangements of orders and genera, and 
have arranged them in a manner that to the scientific reader 
ma}' recall (perhaps with an inclination 10 sneer) Buffon’s clas¬ 
sification of animals into “Wild and Tame,” but to the non- 
botanical reader I trust it will be acceptable. 

FOREST AND TIMBER TREES. 

Sequoia Gigantea, “Big Trees,” a division of the Coniferm 
or Pine family. Fresno County contains more of these than 
all the rest of the State. On the north side of King’s River 
they occur only in isolated groves, always among other trees, 
notably on Dinkey Creek, and on Fresno River. On the south 
side the growth is more general, in some places forming a prin¬ 
cipal part of the forest, including all sizes, from the giant of 
over a hundred feet circumference, with a height of from 350 
to 400 feet, down to the clustered seedlings of a single year’s 
growth. The wood is of a dull red or purplish color, soft and 
easily split, but is almost indestructible in its resistance to rot. 
It is of very even grain, giving it that sonorous quality so 
necessary in woods used in the construction of pianos, organs, 
etc. They grow at an altitude of about 5,000 feet on the 
Sierras, in a region of heavy snows, and freezing during a 
long winter, adapting them to growth for shade, ornament or 
timber, over the large area south of the Ohio River. 

Sugar Pine, Pinus Lambertiana, is found with the 
Sequoias, and is of more general growth throughout the 
mountains. A tree of gigantic dimensions, 150 to 300 feet 
high, and 10 to 20 feet in diameter, with light-brown, smooth- 
ish bark. From this tree is obtained most of our rived lum¬ 
ber, including shingles, shakes, pickets, etc. An exudation 
from the wood of partially burned trees possesses a sweetness 
like sugar, whence the common name of the tree. This “sugar 
is an active cathartic. 

Yellow Pine, Pinus Ponderosa, the most plentiful of our 
mountain pines, equaling the sugar pine in size, but distin¬ 
guishable from it by its longer leaves, and the broader divisions 
of its bark. Valuable for sawed lumber, but not easily split. 


Digger Pine, Pinus Sabiniana, the pine found in the 
Sierra foot-hills, an open-branched tree, sometimes attaining a 
diameter of five feet, with leaves ten to twelve inches long, 
is of no commercial value except for fuel and manufacture of 
charcoal. The nuts which it produces, constitute one of the 
articles of Indian food. The “ Nut Pine ” of the Coast Range 
foot-hills is Pinus Coulteri; closely resembles the preceding. 

The so-called Tamarack in the Sierras found along creeks 
at altitudes of from 4,000 to 8,000 feet, is Pinus Contort t, 
var. Murrayana of our botanies. The tall, straight, strong 
trunks of the small trees grown in thick groves are valuable. 
Pinus monticola, Pinus jiexilis, Pinus Balfourana, and l\ 
Jeffreyi, are found in the high Sierras, but are at present, of 
no commercial value. A Hemlock, Tsuga Pattoniana., is 
found sparingly in the high Sierras. The Douglas Spruce, 
Pseudotsuga Douglasii, is found with the preceding. Firs 
grow in the same locality. The Red Fir, Abies Magnijica, 
White Fir, Abies concolor, are both large timber trees. The 
latter extends into the lower mountain forests. The Cedar 
of the Sierras, Libocedrus decurrens, is found in its perfection, 
from the higher foot-hills up to 8,000 feet altitude. It some¬ 
times attains a height of 200 feet. There are two distinct varie¬ 
ties, the one of them found only in the lower mountains, has 
red wood of great durability, and where standing alone, has a 
growth of dense-foliaged limbs from the ground to the top. 
’Tis one of the most valuable trees that can be grown for shade 
ornament or production of timber. Tis a rapid grower, grows 
readily from seed, and no other tree of equal beauty possesses 
as great ability to stand drought, heat, or frost. The white- 
wooded variety has a long, tapering, limbless trunk. It is 
wholly unfit to grow for shade or ornament. Its timber is not 
valuable. 

Arbor Vit*«, Thuja gigantea, a tall, graceful tree found 
sparingly in the high Sierras, resembles the preceding, but 
distinguishable by the seeds, which are but one-fourth of an 
inch long, while those of Libocedrus are a half-inch in length. 
Juniper, Juniperus Californica, is the small evergreen tree 
found so abundantly in the Coast Range in our county. Yew, 
Taxus brevifolia, is found sparingly in the Sierras: the Nut¬ 
meg tree, Torreya Californica, is also similarly found. “Yel¬ 
low Wood,” known to exist in the Sierras, on upper King’s 
River only by its timber having been found in the piles of 
floodwood, is supposed to be allied to one of the two preceding. 

OAKS.—Eight species of oaks are found in this county. 
Foot-hill Oak, Quercus Douglasii, is the common scrubby 
oak of the foot-hills. Burr Oak, Q. Lobata, is the large oak 
with drooping limbs, common in the valley along creek and 
river bottoms. Both of the above yield great quantities of 
acorns, valuable for feed. Q. Bre-weri and Q. dumosa are the 
shrubby oaks, from two to ten feet tall, of the higher foot-hills, 
sometimes produces acorns as large as a Guinea hen’s egg. Q 
chrysolepis has ash-gray bark, and dense evergreen, foliagr 













138 


BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


Wood is hard and valuable. A desirable tree for shade or 
ornament. Q. agrifolia, is the common black live oak of the 
foot-hills. Good for fuel only. Q. Wislizeni, an evergreen, 
resembles the preceding, but is found only at altitudes above it, 
and is a larger tree with valuable wood. Q. Kellogii, resem¬ 
bles the preceding, except that it is deciduous. 

WILLOWS.—At least ten species of willows grow in this 
county. The largest, Salix laevigata, common on all the river 
banks sometimes attains a height of sixty feet, with three feet 
diameter of trunk. There are two or three varieties of this 
species. S. sessilifolia, is the cottony-leafed willow of the 
rivers. Sometimes in dense groves, the slim, smooth trunks 
reach a height of forty feet. Both of these are valuable for 
trunks on which to bud or graft the weeping willow. By this 
means, in a single season, beautiful drooping tops, a dozen feet 
across, can be made on trunks anywhere from ten to thirty 
feet in height. S. lasiandra, with long, narrow-pointed leaves; 
S'. Cordata, with pointed leaves, some of them approaching to 
heart-shape, are found along mountain creeks. S. Monica, and 
S. arctica, are small shrubs found among the highest Sierras; 
the latter is a creeping shrub, and is often found covering large 
areas. 

POPLARS, Cottonwoods. Three species of these are found. 
Pop ulus tremuloides, “ Quaking Asp,” is the poplar found in 
the Sierras, on marshy ground at from 4,000 to 8,500 feet alti¬ 
tude; it has very white bark. P. trichocarpa, is the cotton¬ 
wood, with smooth bark, found in the mountains. P. Fre- 
monti, is the large tree with gray, cracked bark, found spar¬ 
ingly along Wautokee Creek, and constituting the chief amount 
of timber along the Pose Chind. 

Sycamore, Platanus racemosa, is common along most of the 
rivers and creeks in the valley portion of the county. Ash, 
Fraxinas Oregana, (Spanish name, “ Fresno,”) the tree from 
which that county and one of its rivei'S take their names, is com¬ 
mon along the banks of streams; is a small tree with tough, 
hard, valuable wood. Alder, Alnus rhombifolia, is generally 
found with the preceding; it sometimes reaches a height of fifty 
feet and three feet in diameter. Dogwood, two species of this, 
Comas Californica and C. pubescens, are found along the 
mountain creeks at 2,000 to 5,000 feet altitude. They are 
shrubs twelve to twenty feet in height, with large, white flowers, 
and very hard wood. Maple, only one of these, and that but 
sparingly, Acer macrophyllum, a tree sixty feet in height, is 
found along the upper course of the San Joaquin and King’s 
Rivers. Buckeye, sEsculus Californica, common over all 
the foot-hills, is sometimes a broad-topped tree forty to fifty 
feet in height. In May, when in full flower, they are beautiful, 
but as they shed their leaves in summer, they are not desir¬ 
able for shade or ornament. Wood of little value. Madrona, 
Arbatas Menziesii, a tree with large leaves, and bark resem¬ 
bling a manzanita; rare in our mountains. 


Manzanita, Arctostaphyllos. At least seven species of this 
beautiful heath are indigenous to this section. A. glanca, 
sometimes twetity-five feet in height, found in the Coast 
Range; fruit three-fourth of an inch in diameter, seeds con¬ 
solidated into a globose woody stone. A. Andersonii, ten feet 
tall, pale bark, Coast Range canons. A. tomentosa, ten feet in 
height, common found on all foot-hills. A. pangens, larger 
than the preceding where found growing with it, but becom¬ 
ing quite small on the high Sierras. A. Uva-ursi, a creeping, 
smooth-leaf variety on the high Sierras. A. pumila, similar 
to preceding but erect; Coast Range canons; very rare. A. 
bicolor, stems nearly bare of leaves, which are found only at 
the end of the branches; three to four feet in height; fruit yel¬ 
low, size of a pea. 

Birch, Betula occidentalis, a single species in the high Sierra 
canons, at 10,000 feet altitude. A small tree twenty feet in 
height, broad, thin, oval leaves. Fremontia Californica, a 
branching tree, twenty-five feet tall, one foot through at base, 
hard wood, yellow flowers, a hands-breadth across, in early 
spring: leaves thick, hairy, rusty beneath, usually thi’ee-lobed. 
Bark possesses the same qualities as “slippery elm.” Grows on 
the high foot-hills near the lower range of yellow pine. Mount- 
! ain Laurel, Umbellalaria Californica, a tree sometimes fifty 
feet tall, with green, shining, lance-shaped leaves four to five 
1 inches long. Wood, bark, leaves and flowers are aromatic. It 
belongs to the same family as the Camphor, Cinnamon, and 
j Sassafras trees. 

It is found at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,000 feet on both the 
Sierras and Coast Range. Cercocarpus parvifolius, locally 
| known here as “ Mahogany,” is found growing with the preced¬ 
ing. It is an arborescent shrub, ten to twenty feet in height, 
leaves hairy or silky above, one-half to one and a half inches 

1 

long, veins prominent beneath. It has a hard, heavy, dark- 
colored wood, susceptible of a fine polish. 

Of Naturalized Trees I would not speak but for the 
reason that some are so perfectly adapted to growth here, and 
are being raised by tens of thousands, so that their abundance 
and size in future years will cause a doubt as to whether they 
are not native to the soil. Black Walnuts have arown over 
twenty feet in height, and over a foot in diameter, and have 
borne a crop of nuts, at five years old fr >m seed. Chestnuts 
have also borne a crop of nuts at five years of age. Pecans 
and Maderanut trees make nearly as great a growth, as also 
do Basswood ( Telia Americana), Elms of several varieties 
Mulberries, red, white and black, White Ash, Tulip tree 
(.Liriodendron talipifera), Soft Maple, Box Elder, Catalpa, 
Ailantus, Lombardy Poplar, while the Carolina Poplar (Populus 
monilifera), surpasses them all in growth, having grown here 
on my place, symmetrical trees over thirty feet in height in 
three years from cuttings. Different species of Eucalyptus 
also make an enormous growth, from eight to fifteen feet in 
height per year, but they are not hardy enough to stand the 
















BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


139 


frost in most parts of the county. Locusts, black, honey and 
yellow, have also been successfully grown, also some varieties 
of Acacia, as well as Osage Orange, and several exotic Pines, 
Cypresses, etc. This list though but partial, I trust contains 
many naturalized trees that will largely supersede the indig¬ 
enous varieties within the coming fifty years. 

BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS. 

This is pre-eminently the land of flowers. Nearly half 
the year the landscape is covered with a beauty rivalling the 
most brilliant cloud in magnificence, of purple, gold and crim¬ 
son, flecked here and there with touches of heaven’s deep blue. 
Would you study these flowers; do you wish to know their 
interior beauties; would you penetrate the mysteries of their 
growth ? You must know them by their names, that you may 
study in botanies what science has learned concerning them, 
and to this end, come with me,—let us take each other by the 
hand that we may the better obey the command of Wisdom, 
“Consider ye the lilies of the field.” 

Nemophila insignis, a terrible name for our first flower of 
winter, the blue “ Baby Eyes ” of our plains! But all these 
long names have a meaning. This comes from Greek, nemos, 
grove, and philos, lover, “Grove-lover,” so called from the origi¬ 
nal type of this family, found abundantly in the Southern 
States, always growing in the shade of dense groves of trees. 
Another flower of this family, Nemophila maculata is found 
on the creek near Behring’s store, and generally along creeks 
in the mountains at altitudes ranging from 4,000 to 8,000 feet. 
It grows six to ten inches in height, and has blossoms an inch 
in diameter, white or rose color, blotched with spots of brilliant 
dark purple. 

Eritrichium Chorisianum, “ Wool weed,” is the second 
flower that blooms in winter. It grows a foot in height, has 
hairy stems and leaves, and small, white, fragrant heliotrope-like 
blossoms It is valuable for feed for stock, also makes good 
greens or salad for the table. 

Dodecatheon Meadia, “Johnny-jump-up,” of the clayey 
foot-hills, blooms at same time. These are followed by myriads 
of flowers, among which are: Eschscholtzia California, 
the large yellow or Fremont Poppy, with flowers from two to 
four inches across, usually consisting of four bright orange 
petals, satin-glossed. Also of the poppy family we have 
Platystemon Californicus, “Cream Cups,” little cream 
or lemon-colored flowers, often double, each on the top of a 
hairy stem a foot or two tall; common in old fields; and 
Meconopsis heterophylla, a beautiful poppy-like flower of 
our Sierra foot-hills; not common. 

Gileas in places cover the landscape. At least seventeen 
species of these are found here. G. dichotoma, with slender 
black stems a foot in height, and pearly white blossoms nearly 
an inch in diameter. G. tri-color, with branching stems a foot 
or two tall, filled with blossoms a half inch across, somewhat 


cup-shaped, and variegated with purple, rose and lavender. 
G. pusilla, two to six inches high, covering the ground in 
places with a mat of hair-like stems, blossoms abundant, deli¬ 
cate, purple, rose or white, a half inch or less in diameter. 
G. androsacea, a foot in height; small, rose or white flowers, 
clustered on a prickly head; Sierra foot-hills. G. Viscidula, 
like preceding but smaller, flowers bright blue or yellow; clay 
lands, lower foot-hills and plains. G. Gapitata, “ Blueheads,” 
in sandy hollows, stems one to three feet, few leaves, flowers 
sky-blue, clustered in heads or tassels. G. achillecefolia, like 
preceding but stouter; flowers larger, less compact. The other 
species are less common. Clarkia Elegans, brushy Sierra 
foot-hill; stem two to four feet, usually branched; flowers 
composed of four petals, showy; purple or violet; nodding in 
the bud. Phacelia tanecetifolia, covering the ground in 
places; tansy-like leaves, stems two to four feet, flowers abun¬ 
dant, small, arranged along the curling ends of the branches; 
lio-ht violet or bluish. Calandrinia Menziesii, a low succulent 
plant, resembling portulacca; flowers a half inch or more across, 
ranging in color in different varieties from bright crimson to 
purple; a valuable feed plant. Abounds on Jackson’s place 
near Centerville. C. pygmoea, a species with lai-ge fusiform 
roots, red flowers; Sierras, 8,000 feet. Of Lupines our county 
has fourteen species, mostly shrubby; palmate leaves; bean¬ 
like flowers and seeds. L. arboreus, in foot-hills, notably about 
Auberry Valley, two to ten feet tall, flowers yellow. L. rivu- 
laris, flowers blue or violet; above Jackson’s on King’s River. 
L. albicaulis, small; common on the plains east of Selma. L. 
confertus, flowers rose-color; Sierra foot-hills. L. aridus, 
dwarf shrub; high Sierras. L. leptophyllus, on King’s River ; 
flowers bluish-lilac, with crimson spot. L. sparsiflorus, small, 
slender; flowers violet, very small. The others are unimpor¬ 
tant. The Judas Tree, “Red-bud,” is a common arborescent 
shrub usually growing in bunches along creeks in the foot-hills 
conspicuous from its abundance of red bean-like flowers, which 
cover the branches in spring before the leaves appear. 

Two Collinsias, a large variegated purple one is found in 
the foot-hills, and a small white one on sandy places on the 
plains. An Orthocarpus, “Owl clover,” is common; another 
orthocarpus, not resembling the-above, that from the peculiar 
form of its petals, is called “ Yellow-puffs,” grows about River- 
dale. The so-called “Buttercups” of the plains are not but¬ 
tercups at all, but are Evening Primroses. Here are also 
three species of red or purple primroses. In the Sierra foot¬ 
hills are two species of Honeysuckle, both climbers, with 
woody stems; a Clematis (Virgin’s Bower), also a climber, is 
found among the shrubby woods of the higher foot-hills. It 
is recognizable by the hair-like appendages to its seeds. Of 
flowers on tall, leafless, flower-stalks, with succulent, grass-like 
leaves at their base, and growing from bulbs, we have Bloom- 
eria aurea, yellow, six-pointed, abundant on Sayle’s Creek in 
early spring. BrodivE grandiflora, three to six feet, flowers 







140 


BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


varying from rose to purple; brushlands of Sie v ra foot-hills. 
13. minor, similar to the above, but only a foot in height. B. 
Capitata, the funnel-shaped, so-called “Blue lily” of the 
plains. B. Bridgesii, similar to preceding, but darker blue, 
and found only on clayey soil. B. Laxa, the most common 
species; heads of small, clustered flowers. Of Lilies, the 
Washingtonianum is found in abundance in several isolated 
meadows in the Sierras. L. Parryi, L. parvum, L. parda- 
linum, are also found here. Calochortus lutem, “ Butterfly 
Tulip,” is abundant along the Sierra foot-hills. 

One Yucca, Y. Whipplei, is found in the southwestern part 
of the county, near the Hot Springs. Caudex, ten to twenty 
feet tall, the upper half of it covered with large white or 
cream-colored, lily-like blossoms, during spring. 

The Sunflower family has so many representatives here 
that we can give only the moi'e conspicuous a passing notice. 
Layia platyglossa, “Tidy-tips,” is the common little yel¬ 
lowish sunflower, two inches across, with petals white or white- 
tipped. L. pentacheeta, a foot or two in height; common, 
golden yellow. Ch/ENACTIS glabriuscula, is the branching, 
profuse-flowering plant, a foot tall; flowers an inch or two 
across, each a collection of closely-set small flowers. Mala- 
colthrix Californica, is the beautiful, aster-like flower, two 
or three inches across, with a purple spot in center. Troximon 
CHILENSE, closely resembles the dandelion, which is not found 
in our county. Sonchus asper, “Milk thistle,” plentiful 
below Centerville. Goldenrod, we have two of these: 
Solidago Californica, growing on dry ground, and S. elon- 
gata, growing in damp canons and meadows. One Aster, 
A. salsuginosis, with flowers one to two inches in diameter, is 
found in the Sierras at 6,000 to 10,000 feet. Erigeron, Cana- 
dense (horseweed), constitutes the principal growth along irri¬ 
gating ditches. Of Cocklebur we have two species: Xan- 
thium strumarium, the common species, and X. spinosum, 
found sparingly on King’s River bottoms. We have also two 
Sunflowers, Helianthus annus, the common, branching, rank¬ 
growing, noisome weed, and H. Californicus, similar[in appear¬ 
ance; more rare; damp places; large tuberous rootstock. One 
Leptosyne, L. Stillmani, is common; yellow cup-like flower, 
an inch across, on single stems of a foot or two length, upper 
half generally leafless; grows in clayey hollows where water 
stands in winter. Several species and varieties of Tarweed 
grow here, the most common of which is Madia elegans, too 
well known to need description. B^eria chrysostoma, the lit¬ 
tle sunflower that grows so abundantly in deserted sheep corrals. 

Our wild wormwood on the river is the Artemisia vul¬ 
garis of botanists. Hemizonia plumosa (formerly Calyca- 
denia plumosa) is the last of the sunflower family to blossom 
in spring. Stems two to three feet, very much branched, 
flowers numerous, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, lemon- 
colored. Formerly covered large areas of the plains; remains 
in bloom till mid-summer. 


economic botany. 

The most valuable advice to all dwellers on the “ Plains is, 
Plant Trees. They add to salubrity of climate by protect¬ 
ing the earth from sun, heat, and drying winds, also by bring¬ 
ing up moisture by their roots from great depths, and evapo¬ 
rating it through their leaves. In winter, too, they modify 
the degree of cold. Plants do not frost-kill as early in winter, 
nor as badly, near timber as elsewhere. Douglas, the Illinois 
nurseryman, announced twenty years ago that fruits and 
plants can be grown in a climate much colder than is natural 
to them by planting within enclosing shelter-belts of lofty 
evergreens. That prediction is a verified fact in thousands of 
orchards on the western prairies to-day. Fruits are being 
grown within surrounding shelter-belts of evergreens hundreds 
of miles north of where they could be grown without piotec- 
tion. 

Never plant evergreen trees when the ground is cold. The 
best time to plant them is early spring. The sap of these trees 
consists of a watery juice and a pitchy or resinous matter com¬ 
bined. The compound is the same whether found in the trunk, 
the large roots, or the small, hair-like, fibrous roots. The 
exposure of these very delicate root-fibers to the heat of the 
sun, or the equally drying action of the wind for only a few 
minutes, may cause the watery part of the sap to evaporate, 
leaving only the pitchy portion. This can never again, by 
any amount of moisture or soaking, be made to circulate, or 
perform the functions of sap in the tree, which must inevitably 
die as a result. Trees gather food from the earth through 
their spongioles or minute mouths found at the ends of the 
hair-like root fibres. Be careful then to preserve the little 
hair-like roots—preserve them to their ends, for in the ends of 
these is the life of the tree. It is for the purpose of causing 
these “feeders” to form in masses near the base of the tree that 
nurserymen so often transplant evergreens, to insure an 
unchecked growth after the removal. 

The Libocedrus is the most desirable evergreen for all parts 
of our county. No other tree equals it in ability to stand heat, 
drought and frost. Its roots run very deep into the earth, 
thereby making it stand firmly in the most exposed situations, 
and leaving the earth right about its very base in condition to 
produce anything that you may ever wish to cultivate under 
the shade of the trees. By a tall inclosing “shelter belt” of 
these trees, and a few piles of manure within, wetted so as to 
heat and steam during frosty weather, the most tender tropical 
plants may be grown anywhere in the great valley of Cali¬ 
fornia. Eucalyptus are desirable only in the foot-hills, where 
there are no injurious frosts. Deciduous trees should consti¬ 
tute most of your planting. They are preferable for shade 
about one’s residence, as they do not exclude the sunlight in 
winter when it is needed; also for shade, so necessary here for 
all kinds of live-stock ; as also to protect from sun and wind 



















£LLtVT7. LllH.iei /MOan. J7. EILIQT 





















BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


141 


wagons, mowers, etc., they are best—even better than a wooden 
building, which neither shuts out nor counteracts the drying 
winds, besides its liability to fire, from which these shade trees 
are exempt. The Carolina poplar is most desirable for the 
above use, because its growth is most rapid and symmetrical, 
besides it can be bent and pruned so as to produce any form or 
density of shade desired. Of other trees that you should plant 
along ditches, roadsides—everywhere where trees can be made 
to grow, walnut, chestnut, Madeiranut, pecan—all nut trees of 
easy culture and rapid growth, are most desirable. In addi¬ 
tion to value of timber produced, their yearly crop of nuts will 
bring you a large sum. I have black walnut and chestnut 
trees only five years old from seed now bearing a crop of nuts. 
In the raising of Fruits your object should be to have 
the earliest, the latest, and the best in its season, of every vari¬ 
ety. As success in tree culture demands so widely different 
practices in different localities, I give from my experience of 
over twenty years in tree-growing, by irrigation in the hot i 
climate of interior California, the following directions for 

CULTURE OF FRUIT TREES. 

Plow your ground very deep in February. Then plow out 
vour ditches for irricration. Fill them with water to settle the 
ground, and get the water-level. Turn off the water, and let 
the ground dry till in proper condition to dig easily. Then set 
your trees bv digging a hole sufficiently large to spread out 
the roots in their natural position. Tread the earth firmly 
around your tree, leaving the collet at the surface of the 
ground six inches above the water level of your ditch, so that 
water may never afterward stand against the body of your 
tree. Remember that the life of this, and all other trees, is in 
their little hair-like roots. If any of these are cut off, which 
is necessarily the case in removing all but the very smallest 
trees, vou should always cut off the top and limbs of the tree 
to correspond. Trees are never inj ured by too close pruning 
when transplanted, but if not top-pruned, a loss of root-feeders 
will kill the tree or very much enfeeble its growth. 

The culture of berries can be conducted on the same gen¬ 
eral plan, whether they be strawberries, blackberries, or rasp¬ 
berries; the distance apart of the rows, etc., to be determined 
bv the species and size of growth. I give the rule for 

STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 

Select a piece of ground perfectly level. Plow into ridges, 
three feet apart, by throwing four furrows together, and leav¬ 
ing a double furrow eighteen inches or more in depth between 
the ridges. Set your strawberry vines a foot apart on the top 
of the ridges. Fill the furrows rounding-up full of stable 
manure (using part straw if manure is scarce), leaving only a 
hands-breadth uncovered on the top of the ridges where the 
vines are set. Then turn on the water in the beginning of the 
drv season, tilling up the ditches, completely saturating the 


manure, leaving only a few inches of the top of each ridge out 
of water. Such an irrigation will last for twenty days, when 
it must be repeated. This is all the work you have to do. No 
hoeing; no plowing out; no cutting off of runners, only irri¬ 
gate and pick your berries. In our climate, one square rod of 
ground treated in this way will give a larger return whether 
the fruit be for market or use, than five square rods of ordi¬ 
nary culture. Vines transplanted from such rows possess a vigor 
and productiveness that it would take two years to develop 
in the dwarf, burnt-up things from runners of the ordinary 
strawberry bed. 

NATIVE FRUITS. 

Prickly gooseberries of large size and fine flavor abound in 
the mountain forests, but the prickles or spines have to be 
burned off before they can be used. Smooth gooseberries of 
fair size and quality are also found both in the Sierras and 
Coast Range. Edible currants are found in several mountain 
localities. Serviccberries and whortleberries are also found in 
small quantities in the mountains. Strawberries are found on 
Dinkey Creek and elsewhere at that altitude. Thimble-berries 
(thornless raspberries) of superior flavor grow in the Sierras, 
but are productive in only a few damp canons. Sorbus trees 
(.Pirus sambucifolia) grow in the Sierras, but I know nothing 
of their fruit. 

Sorbus domesticus, from Turkey, valuable for its fruit, 
grows well here on my farm. Mahonias are found on the 
upper San Joaquin—not productive. Two wild plums grow 
in the Sierras, Primus subcordata, and P. Emargiruita, var 
mollis, and a cherry, P. demissa, none of them of great value. 
An evergreen plum, of possible value for hedges or ornament, 
with edible fruit, P. ilicifolia, is said to grow in some of the 
canons on the west line of the county. Elderberries of fine 
quality are found along foot-hill creeks. Wild grape vines are 
also found, not productive, fruit inferior. Filberts are quite 
plentiful in some places in the Sierras, nuts of excellent qual¬ 
ity. The only valuable accession to cultivated fruits is the 
King’s River Blackberry. Myself and others have trans¬ 
planted to our orchards the best of these. They are of medium 
size, very productive, superior flavor, and what is most valu¬ 
able they are twenty to thirty days earlier than varieties 
usually cultivated. I believe they are the earliest blackberry 
in the world. 

FORAGE PLANTS. 

Our native grasses are not valuable. The most valuable 
native forage plant is the “ Filree,” of which we have three 
species, Erodium cicutorium, the most plentiful. It covers 
the earth with its rank growth in springtime; E. macrophyl- 
lum, the species that makes, by its summer growth, the round 
“ mats,” from a few inches to a foot across; E. moschatum, 
the largest, but least plentiful, easily recognizable by its nearly 
entire leaves and strong musky smell. Geranium Caroli- 




















142 


BOTANICAL FEATURES OF THE COUNTY. 


nianum, resembles the last, but is distinguished by its lack of 
musk, and turning red on approach of the dry season. Eri- 
Trichiums (the most common of which was described as an 
early winter flower), of which here are at least four species, 
commonly known to stockmen as “ White-blossom,” are nearly 
equal in feed-value to the “Filrees.” Closely related to 
these, of larger growth, with yellow or orange-colored bios- I 
soms, are the Amsinckias, of nearly equal value as forage 
plants. The common species, A. spectabilis (known as “Fat- ' 
grass”), is, when young and tender, a good pot-herb and salad. 
On the Pose Chind, the “ Wild Cabbage,” Caulanthus cras- 
sicaulua, holds a similar place as a forage and food plant. In 
exotic feed-plants our county ranks high. Here is the “Hirs- 
chorn,” a millet from the Danube; a branching Sorghum from 
the shores of the Caspian; Durras from Egypt and China ; 
Penicillaria (a rank millet) from India; Imphees, from South¬ 
ern Africa; Prickly Comfrey, from Prussia (not a success 
here); and greater than any of these, Medicago sativa, from 
ancient Greece, brought through Spain and the Spanish pos¬ 
sessions in America, hence it has come to us under its Spanish 
name, Alfalfa. The loss of stock from bloat, caused by eat¬ 
ing it when in most active growth, detracts from its value. 
Bloat can be prevented by giving stock access to hay or straw; 
or better, by having imphee, sorghum, or millet, growing with 
the alfalfa so as to constitute from five to ten per cent of their 
feed. The best grass for this purpose is probably the Ever¬ 
green Millet, which has perennial roots, yields as much feed as 
alfalfa, and surpasses it in ability to thrive under conditions of 
drought, heat, frost, or flood that would kill even alfalfa. 

MEDICINAL HERBS. 

The Yerba Santa ( Eriodiction glutinosum) a pulmonary 
remedy, a shrub, abounds in the hills. Yerba Mansa 
(Anemopsis Californica), a sort of “ cure-all ” among the 
Spaniards. A decoction of the root is an excellent application 
to saddle-galls and other sores. It is found in abundance in 
Riverdale. Chia ( Salvia Columbaria}) is found on sandy alkali 
land. The seed of this infused in water was the Spanish 
remedy for dysentery. Salvia carduacea, the more common 
species, with thistle-like spines, was also similarly used, but 
considered inferior. Wild carrot ( Daucus pusillus) the chewed 
or pounded leaves were by the Spaniards an outward applica¬ 
tion for rattlesnake bites; recognizable from leaf and seed 
resembling the cultivated carrot; root small. Spikenard 
(A ralia Californica), found in damp canons ; has large mucil¬ 
aginous roots; said to have demulcent qualities. False 
Hellebore (Veratrum Californicum) found in meadows of 
the Sierras 4,000 to 8,000 feet; root poisonous; used in medi¬ 
cine; also, when dried and ground to powder, valuable for 
Gardner’s use as an insecticide. 

Thus closes the valuable article kindly furnished us by Prof. 
Sanders. 


Wild Berries, Fruits and Roots. 

Another writer furnishes us with some additional matter‘on 
the general subject of Botany and especially on ferns, a por¬ 
tion of which is here given :— 

There are wild grapes, blackberries, gooseberries, huckle¬ 
berries, raspberries, salmonberries, and strawberries. The rasp¬ 
berry grew wild, but never in the great quantities in which 
the blackberry was found. The latter, for a great many years, 
was quite a source of revenue to the Indian squaws, who 
gathered and sold them to the whites. There are a few left 
yet, but the great bulk of the vines have had to give place to pro¬ 
ducts of greater value. Our wild blackberry is not so large as 
the tame, nor as the wild berry of the Eastern States, but it 
is of a very much better flavor than either. The wild grape 
grows all through the timber along the river. The berry is 
small and very full of seed, but when perfectly ripe has a very 
fine flavor. It is better for jelly than any other. 
Chlorogalum Pomeridianum. —The amole, or soap plant has 
an onion-like, bulbous root, which, when rubbed in water, 
makes a lather like soap, and is good for removing dirt. 

It was extensively used for washing, by the Indians and 
Spanish Californians, previous to the American conquest. The 
amole has a stock four or five feet high, from which branches 
about eighteen inches long spring out. The branches are cov¬ 
ered with buds which open in the night, beginning, at the root 
of the boughs, about four inches of a branch opening at a 
time. The next night the buds of anot her four inches open, 
and so on. The dry bulb abounds in tough fibers, which are 
separated from the other material, and used as a substitute for 
hair in mattresses. 

A truffle, or a root i-esembling it, is found in the valleys. The 
grizzly bear considers it a delicacy, and frequently digs it up. 
Liliorhiza Lanceolata. —It is among the earliest spring 
flowers. Has a rather unpleasant odor. 

It is among the earliest of our spiing blooming bulbs, with a 
habit and appearance slightly similar to the spring snowdrop, 
which is so much prized in the Eastern States. Its flower 
stem, which has but few leaves, is from six to fifteen inches 
high; the scattered leaves run into bi'acts near the summit, 
from whose axils spring the flowers, which at first appear to 
pi’oject outward, but gradually droop with age. 

The blooming bulbs often grow at a depth of a foot or more 
in a stiff adobe, and as the bulbs are composed of several 
loosely coherent scales, it is often very difficult to obtain them 
entire. They are a clear waxy white. 

CREEPING PLANTS AND VINES. 

Along the lower land of the river and sloughs, and among 
the timber, the wild pea grows to a vexy great height. 

There is a wild hemp growing upon the lowlands, from 
which the Indians used to make fish-nets, and rope. 




















THE CLIMATE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 


143 


Agreeable Climate. 

There is one subject upon which the true Californian never 
wearies of dilating—“the climate.” Be it in the ice-bound 
regions of the Sierras at midwinter, or in the heat and mid¬ 
summer of the great valleys; in the fogs of the coast, or in the 
sand-storms of the plains, he will assert “it is the finest climate 
in the world.” 

Climate, more than any other one property, determines the 
comparative and intrinsic worth of a country for habitation. 
Every other condition may be, to a less or greater degree, 
altered by human agency; climate remains a steadfast servant 
to its mistress, Nature. The soil may be unfruitful; timber 
wanting; the water unfit for use; man remedies such defects, 
and nations are planted in the midst of these adverse sur¬ 
roundings. Climate, unaltered, outlasts the labor of races. 

In the location, then, of a permanent settlement and the 
choice of a home, climatic conditions form the first and chief 
factor. Men pierce the frozen barriers of the North or brave 
the wasting torrid heats in pursuit of wealth, only that they 
may dwell in comfort where the seasons come and go mildly. 
Human adventurers are not bound by frost and heat; and yet 
homes are not made of choice too near the extremes of either. 

Enough seasonable variation exists to make the race vigor- 
ous, to produce grains and fruits of the finest quality, and the 
best varieties of domestic stock. At the same time out-door 
labor suffers little interruption by reason of weather stress. 

The most dense population, the highest intelligence, and the 
most general prevalence of the useful arts, are found along 
those isotherms opposing the fewest rigors of climate to be over¬ 
come. Here, too, national and individual wealth are accumu¬ 
lated in the largest abundance. For physical discomforts re¬ 
quire less expenditure in food, clothing, and shelter, and thus 
subtract less from the sum total of labor, leaving a maximum 
to be added to the individual and general capital. The north 
temperate region, accordingly, affords resources for the highest 
individual and national welfare. 

THIS CLIMATE COMPARED WITH OTHERS. 

To realize the advantages of our climate, we have only to 
compare it with the climate of other States and counties. At 
Cincinnati, in January, the minimum temperature is ten de¬ 
grees, that is, ten degrees below zero, or forty-two degrees be¬ 
low the freezing point, or, as we say, forty-two degrees of frost, 
whereas, in most of the valleys in California, and particularly 
her-e in this valley, we do not have more than two degrees of 
frost, and snow never, except in two instances within the last 
ten years, and then on A enough to cover the ground, and re¬ 
maining only a few hours. 

The mean temperature in Cincinnati, in January, is twenty- 


one degrees, Fahrenheit, indicating that the average day in 
that month has eleven degrees of frost, while the average Jan¬ 
uary day here is at least twenty-two degrees warmer than in 
Cincinnati. At Richmond, Virginia, in the same latitude with 
us, the minimum temperature in January is two degrees, that 
is, two degrees above zero, being something like forty degrees 
below the greatest cold observed here in the same latitude. 
There are other important points in our favor when compared 
with the other side of the continent—the difference in the 
temperature of the summer nights, which ai-e oppressively 
hot in the Atlantic States, and so deliciously cool and pleasant 
here as to secure refreshing slumber. 

REASON OF AGREEABLE CLIMATE. 

One reason of this is the difference in the atmospheric moist¬ 
ure, which has a great influence upon comfort in hot weather, 
and which effects all climates. The air is so dry here that 
the perspiration is carried away rapidly, leaving the body 
cool and refreshed, but with our Eastern friends, the abundance 
of moisture prevents or checks evaporation, and there is more 
discomfort with a temperature of ninety-eight degrees there 
than with 110 degrees here. 

When people there are suffering with prostration from sun¬ 
stroke, wc here find comfort and safety in the gentle breeze 
which fans our cheeks, and wipes the perspiration from our 
bodies, leaving us cool and refreshed, and beyond the reach 
of the sun’s most oppressive heat. 

Our climate rivals that of Lombardy with its rich fields of 
the olive, the fig, and the grape; that of Nice, with its mild 
and salubrious air, sought as it is by the thousands of health- 
seekers from all parts of the world; that of Dijon, the cham¬ 
pagne regions of France and Italy, and Naples, whose sunny 
skies and balmy breezes have been the subject from remote 
ages of many a poet’s song. 

CLIMATE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

To the inhabitant of the Eastern States, says Dr. J. P. Wid- 
ney, southern California is a new region, where, he has heard, 
his harsh winters are unknown, and where the orange flourishes 
as in its native home. When he reads of it, it is the account of 
men who have gone with eyes free from any pre-existing preju¬ 
dice, and have told what they saw. Of the people of north¬ 
ern California, however, comparatively few have ever visited 
the southern portion of the State, while they have learned 
just enough of the climatic peculiarities of the coast to know 
the general law that rain-fall diminishes as they go south. 
They observe that the average annual rain-fall of Sacramento 
is eighteen inches, while that of Stockton upon the south is 
sixteen and eight-tenths inches. 

In the Tulare country, which is still farther to the south 
it has decreased to only six and a half inches. They reason 
that as what is known as distinctively southern California lies 





144 


HOW MOUNTAINS EFFECT THE CLIMATE. 


yet beyond those lands of steadily failing moisture, it must be 
still more arid. They have not stopped to inquire whether 
there may not be other influences at work changing or sus¬ 
pending the action of the law. 

-For a proper understanding of the climate of California it 
is essential that the general climatic laws of the whole State 
should be studied. The most strongly marked feature in the 
physical geography of California, and the one which at once 
catches the eye of the observant traveler, is the fact that its 
mountains, for hundreds of miles, run parallel with the coast, 
and that there are two of these great chains, one rising 
abruptly almost from the sea line, like a long wall, with only 
here and there a shallow coast valley, as at Santa Cruz, lying 
outside the range and facing directly upon the ocean. This 
is known as the Coast Range. 

THE SIERRA NEVADA. 

The great uplifted crest of the Sierra Nevada, which, for 
hundreds of miles, in unbroken chain, forms the horizon line 
upon the east, crossed only, at long distances, by some rugged 
pass, leading to the interior basin of the continent. 

This range, with its great altitude, its heavy snows, and its 
immense condensing power, is the source of all the important 
rivers of California. From it come the Sacramento and San 
Joaquin, with their tributaries, and in southern California, 
the Los Angeles, the San Gabriel, and the Santa Ana. 

These two ranges of mountains divide the lands of the 
State into two classes of widely different climatic features— 
the humid coast valleys, lying outside of the Coast Range, 
facing upon the ocean, and marked by a comparatively great 
precipitation of moisture and slight evaporation; and the more 
arid interior valleys, lying between the two ranges, and char¬ 
acterized by just the reverse—a light rain-fall and an exces¬ 
sive evaporation. 

The great interior basin of California, the Sacramento, and 
San Joaquin, together with several smaller valleys, as the 
Santa Clara and Napa, formed by a local splitting of the coast 
mountains into two ranges, drains outward to the ocean through 
the gap which forms the inlet to San Francisco Bay, while 
through the same gap flows back the cool air-current which 
gives the daily sea-breeze to these valleys. 

BROKEN MOUNTAIN RANGES. 

Out of the broken confusion of the Tehachapi and Tejon 
Mountains, where the Sierra and the Coast Ranges seem to be¬ 
come inextricably entangled, the Sierra at length emerges, and 
skirting the Mojave Desert upon the west, turns eastward under 
the local name of the Sierra Madre as the northern wall of the 
Los Angeles and San Bernardino country; then turning again 
southward along the western rim of the Colorado Desert, goes 
on to form the backbone of the peninsula of Lower California. 

A stray fragment of the Coast Range rises again for a 
while, under the name of the Santa Monica Mountains; joins 


the dividing ridge between the westerly plains of the Los 
Angeles country and the San Fernando Valley; breaks down 
entirely where the San Fernando Valley opens into the Los 
Angeles; gives outlet to the Los Angeles River; then rises 
as a low, irregular range of hills between Los Angeles and 
the San Gabriel country—hills having an elevation of only 
200 or 300 feet; breaks down again completely after a few 
miles, where the broad valley of the San Gabriel comes out 
from the Sierra, irrigating with its waters the fertile, low- 
lying lands of El Monte and Los Nietos. 

The hills rise again as a broken range, gradually attaining 
to a height in scattered peaks of 1,000 or 2,000 feet, but 
torn asunder where the Santa Ana, coming from its source in 
the San Bernardino portion of the Sierra, and watering upon 
its way the San Bernardino and Riverside countries,* bursts 
through to the lands of Santa Ana and Anaheim and the coast 
plain, and on to the sea. Beyond, this broken, wandering 
remnant of the Coast Range becomes again, but this time 
hopelessly, entangled with and lost in the Sierra. This break¬ 
ing down of the Coast Range throws the whole valley system 
of southern California, known collectively as the Los Angeles 
country, open to the sea, making it practically a vast system of 
coast valleys, with the Sierra as a background; and it is to be 
classed with the Humboldt and Santa Cruz Counties in climate, 
but from the sheltering mountains and the more southern lati¬ 
tude milder in temperature, and in extent upon an infinitely 
larger scale. About 3,000 square miles of level valley land open 
out to the sea at this point. 

COLD WINDS CUT OFF. 

The sharp trend eastward of the coast line south of Point 
Concepcion also brings the sea nearer to the Sierra, making its 
influence more felt, while the deflection of the Sierra from a 
north and south direction to almost due east turns it into a 
huge barrier, raised directly across the path of the cold north 
wind, which sweeps the upper portion of the State. Under 
the shelter of its peaks, ranging in elevation from G,000 to 
11,000 feet, these southern valleys nestle, looking from the 
snow-clad crests above them out toward the warm southern 
sea. 

The exemption of southern California from the working of 
the general law of a continuously diminishing rain-fall, and an 
even more arid climate as you go south, lies in the fact that it 
is essentially a coast country, and not a continuation of the 
San Joaquin and Tulare Valleys. The mountains which shut 
those valleys off from the sea are, as already shown, broken 
down and lost in southern California. The tendency to a 
reversion to the interior type is seen, however, in the San 
Fernando Valley, which is partly shut oft* from the ocean by 
the Santa Monica Mountains belonging to the coast system, 
which is not so shut off. Even in the San Fernando Valley 
the elevation of the Coast Range is so slight and the breaks 

*The special features of these local climates is given elsewhere. 








CLIMATE FOR CORN, VINE, AND ORANGE. 


145 


so open, that the only result is to shelter it partially from the 
fogs and give a somewhat drier air and higher summer tem¬ 
perature. The shelter is only enough to make this valley the 
most noted wheat region of southern California; not enough 
to rank it with the parched and unreliable San Joaquin and 
Tulare Plains. 

The Mojave Desert may be looked upon, not as the geologi¬ 
cal, but as the climatic, southern continuation of the great in¬ 
terior valley of California. 

The following table, giving the temperature and humidity, 
month by month, of Sacramento and Los Angeles, are com¬ 
piled from the last published annual report of the United 
States Signal Service:— 

MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR EACH MONTH, FROM JULY, 1877, TO 

June, 1878. 


Month. 

Sacramento. 

Degrees. 

Los Angeles. 
Degrees. 

Sacramento. 

Humidity. 

Los Angeles. 
Humidity. 

Julv. 

.75.7 

71.1 

43.0 

61.8 

August. 

.73.0 

70.1 

46.0 

64.5 

September. . . . 

.72.8 

69.8 

43.0 

62.1 

October. 

.62.7 

63.4 

49.0 

67.4 

November .... 

.53.9 

62.1 

72.0 

46.5 

December. 

.47.8 

55.3 

74.0 

56.4 

January. 

.49.0 

54.1 

79.0 

61.0 

February. 


54.6 

80.0 

69.3 

March. 


55.8 

74.0 

72.9 

April. 

.59.8 

58.0 

65.0 

69.8 

May. 

.66.4 

62.0 

57.0 

70.4 

J une. 

.73.0 

64.7 

53.0 

72.0 


Annual mean.. . .G1.3 645 

Number of days at Sacramento with temperature above 
ninety degrees, fifty-five; highest temperature recorded, 103 
degrees. 

Number of days at Los Angeles with temperature above 
ninety degrees, four; highest temperature recorded, ninety- 
three degrees. 

AVERAGE ANNUAL RAIN-FALL. 

Sacramento 18 inches; Stockton, 16.8 inches; south end of 
San Joaquin Valley, G.5 inches (these three measurements are 
taken from the official report of the State Engineer, 18S0) ; 
Los Angeles, 17.97 inches (average for the last eight years, as 
shown by rain-guage kept by Mr. Ducommun, at Los An¬ 
geles). 

The San Diego average from 1871 to 1881 was 9 59 inches 
and the average number of rainy days per year was forty. 
During five years the mercury rose above 80° only fifty-eight 
days, and only once reached 100°. The San Diego climate is 
given more fully elsewhere. 

A comparison of the foregoing table shows Los Angeles to 
possess, as contrasted with Sacramento, an atmosphere warmer 
and drier in winter, and cooler and moister in summer, while 
the table of precipitation shows the average annual rain-fall of 
eighteen inches at Sacramento diminishing as you go south, in 
accordance with the law already mentioned, to 1G.8 at Stock¬ 


ton, and in the Tulare and Kern Valleys, still farther south, to 
only 6.5 inches. Yet at Los Angeles, in southern California, 
it has suddenly risen again to 17.97 inches almost the same as 
at Sacramento. The cause of this has already been explained 
in the first part of this article. 

FOGS AND HUMIDITY. 

The warmer winter in southern California, as compared with 
the more northern portion of the State, and the greater exemption 
from cold, drying winds, make this amount practically equiv¬ 
alent to a larger rain-fall in Upper California, as vegetation is 
not so much retarded by the cold of December and January, 
but the whole of the winter becomes a growing season. The 
growing season is also prolonged by the fogs and humidity of 
a late cool spring. The heat of summer sets in late. The 
season is several weeks behind that of Sacramento. Almost 
nightly, until July, a heavy fog rolls in, wrapping the more 
open portions of the country in a cloud of mist—at times 
almost a drizzling rain—which does not lift until several hours 
after sunrise. 

DAILY SEA-BEEZE INLAND. 

The daily sea-breeze, only slightly obstructed by the low 
fragments of the Coast Range, finds its way to all portions of 
the system of valleys, saving them from the excessive tem¬ 
perature and the rapid evaporation of the Sacramento and 
San Joaquin country. Winter flannels are only changed to a 
lighter summer flannel. 

Another factor enters into the problem of the climate of 
southern California. The influence of the Sonora summer’s 
rain-current is sensibly felt everywhere south of the Tehachapi 
Mountains. 

Rains are common in all the mountains of southern Califor¬ 
nia during the summer months, with a moist, cloudy air in the 
valleys. Three seasons in eleven years I have seen heavy 
rains of several hours’ duration, extending all over the valleys, 
in July and August. During these months of every year 
thunder-storms with often vivid lightning can be seen, some¬ 
times daily, following along the line of the mountain chains. 
These summer rains help in a measure to keep up the volume of 
water in the rivers for irrigation, while all over the valleys the 
moist air which the rain-current brings is instrumental in mate¬ 
rially checking evaporation. The summer has little of the harsh 
dryness of the climate in the northern part of the State. The 
humidity of the atmosphere is shown by the great fleecy cumuli, 
which float slowly across the sky like the summer clouds of the 
Eastern States, and by a peculiar softness of air resembling 
much the balmy mildness of the Mediterranean. 

CLIMATE FOR CORN, VINE, AND ORANGE. 

This soft, moist air admits of the raising of one product not 
elsewhere extensively cultivated in California. Here, as in 
the Mississippi States, corn is the staple crop, its broad, green 























146 


GREAT VARIETY OF CLIMATE IN CALIFORNIA. 


leaves luxuriating in the warm air in which it delights. So 
the rank growth, and the rich, juicy green of the orange and 
the fig leaves, show the mildness and humidity of a climate 
which to them is home. 

The drainage from the water-shed of the Sierra, which stands 
as a huge background to the whole system of valleys, affords 
an unusually abundant supply of water for the purposes of 
agriculture. Over much of the land a double crop is raised— 
small grain without irrigation in winter, corn by irrigation in 
summer. The cienegas are also a peculiar feature of these 
vallej's. The under-ground flow from the Sierra here and 
there comes to the surface, making stretches for miles of moist 
land, green with grass in the driest part of the summer. 

NATURAL WATER RESERVOIRS. 

The broken, hilly Coast Range, lying at the verge of an up¬ 
land plain between the Sierra and the sea, affords innumera¬ 
ble natural sites for extensive reservoirs for the storage of the 
winter floods, thus saving the winter water for summer irriga¬ 
tion. Many small reservoirs have been built upon this upland 
plain and in the hills. These southern valleys are by far the 
best watered portion of California, while the extensive use of 
water for irrigation is reacting upon the climate, making it 
still more humid. 

The peculiarity of the physical chai’acter of the country 
which has been described, the practical obliteration of the Coast 
Range, and the facing of the high Sierra directly out toward 
the ocean, gives rise to one type of climate not elsewhere found 
in the State. It is not the climate of the Coast Range; neither 
is it the climate of the Sierra. It is a climate produced by 
giving the daily sea-breeze of the Coast Range to the Sierra. 
It is a climate which can hardly be described. The peculiar 
charm of it must be felt to be understood. 

WARM FOOT-HILL CLIMATE. 

Along the base of the Sierra back of Pasadena, on east¬ 
ward back of San Gabriel, past Cucamonga, with its noted 
vineyards, above Pomona and on beyond San Bernardino, 
growing warmer as it recedes eastward from the sea, is a belt 
of foot-hills above the fog line, facing out toward the noonday 
sun, looking down across the plains, and the hills of the Coast 
Range, upon the warm southern sea, and yet fanned daily by 
an ocean-breeze that has no harshness. The Southern Pacific 
Railroad, upon its way to Arizona, skirts the foot of this belt 
for 100 miles. 

This, however, is only one of a number of climates developed. 
There are local peculiarities which one would not suspect until 
after actual residence. Along certain lines lie what might be 
termed wind-belts. These are caused by the breaks in the 
Coast Range of hills. The night fogs also are more apt to fol¬ 
low certain well-defined courses; and in the winter frost has 
its sections of preference, while other portions of the country 
escape entirely. 


ANY CLIMATE OBTAINED EASILY. 

There is a varied choice of climates within a comparatively 
limited area. Within a few hours by rail one may have the 
fresh air of the sea-side, with surf-bathing and a temperature 
always cool, even in the warmest days of summer; or, passing 
inland, the wheat-fields of San Fernando Valley, resembling 
somewhat the climate of the great interior valley of the San 
Joaquin; then the warmer raisin lands of Pomona and River¬ 
side; the long, fogless belt of the Sierra foot-hills; and beyond, 
the alfalfa lands of San Bernardino. 

And still beyond, 100 miles inland, over the open valley from 
Los Angeles, is the San Gorgonio Pass, land-marked from the 
Colorado to the sea by the twin peaks, San Jacinto and San 
Bernardino, with snowy crests rising 10,000 and 11,500 feet 
above the plain. Here the Sierra breaks down, forming the 
only natural pass in all its long chain, the grassy plain, with¬ 
out even a dividing crest, swelling and rolling through at an ele¬ 
vation of only 2,900 feet, a natural gateway for the southern 
trans-continental roads upon their way to the East. Beyond, 
is the great mystery of the rainless desert. 

SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY CLIMATE. 

A traveler, on learning that the San Joaquin Valley is not in 
the snow zone, naturally looks about for the cause of such 
remarkable mildness of climate at that latitude. He sees on 
the west the Coast Range, a spur of a mountain system with 
an altitude from 3,000 to 5,000 feet; on the east the Nevadas 
from 0,000 to 9,000 feet high. There is thus formed a natural 
barrier, shutting out much of the cold northers, and inclosing 
a body of measurably isolated air tending to hold an even 
temperature. But the great chief cause of our year-long sum¬ 
mer, is that portion of the Japan current turned towards the 
coast, and skirting it from Victoria to Central America. 

With a temperature thus equalized, and an atmosphere thus 
daily refreshed, the valley of the San Joaquin possesses a 
climate eminently conducive to both the comfort and the health 
of man. The climate of California has been not inappropri¬ 
ately compared to that of Italy in the equability and agreea¬ 
bleness of its temperature. No equally extensive section of 
the State possesses in so eminent a degree those desirable 
climatic characteristics which justify this favorable compari¬ 
son, as does the valley of the San Joaquin. 

INFLUENCE OF TRADE-WINDS. 

As we leave the ocean and go inland, the influence of the 
trade-winds decreases, and the heat of summer and the cold of 
winter increases. The sea-breezes make the winters warmer, 
and the summers cooler. The ocean-breezes seem to lose their 
influence over the winter at twenty miles from the ocean, but 
their influence over the summer weather extends much further 
inland. 








l.mm-r_*_L . sMnwm- 














































THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF NORTH WINDS. 


147 


EFFECT OF THE HOT VALLEYS. 

Another effect of the sandy plains is to create a daily sea- 
breeze from the southwest return trade-winds that prevail on 
the coast as surface winds during the summer months. Each 
day, after the sun rises over these great plains, they become 
heated and increase the temperature of the air over their sur¬ 
face; this air rises, and as the whole current of cool air is from 
the ocean on the west, it rushes in to fill the vacancy. 

A gentle southwest wind may be blowing on the coast at 
night or in the morning ; by eleven or twelve o’clock the full 
force of the sun’s rays is felt—the gentle breeze has increased 
to a brisk wind, and continues until evening. After the setting 
sun has withdrawn his rays and the sandy plains have radiated 
its heat into space, the gentle southwest wind resumes its sway 
until the next day, when, from the same cause, the high wind 
is again repeated. 

CAUSE OF HOT NORTH WINDS. 

The cause of those hot desiccating north winds, says Redding, 
which occasionally sweep over the valley in the summer-time, 
have not be n generally understood. They are caused by 
the fact that the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains reach 
the coast of Alaska, and bend like a great arm around its 
western and southern shore, thus shutting off or deflecting 
the polar winds that otherwise would flow down over Oregon 
and California. 

As it comes south it is heated by coming into warmer lati¬ 
tudes, its capacity to take up moisture is increased, but it finds 
none in its course. The Cascades, which are a continuation of 
the Sierra Nevada, direct it into the Sacramento Valley, where 
it meets still greater heat, which the moi'e increases its capacity 
for moisture. It therefore possesses all the desiccating qualities 
for which it has become famous. 

This dry air as it passes over the dry hot surface of the 
plains is unable to obtain moisture, as is the case when 
north winds blow in the rainy season. Winter north winds 
are, by being charged with moisture, cool enough to suit the 
most exacting demand. 

The theory that these winds come from Arizona is not ten¬ 
able, as the mountain formation precludes such a movement 
without extraordinary forces in the case, a condition for which 
there is no known reason. 

EFFECT OF NORTH WINDS. 

A highly important feature in the climatology of this region 
is the north wind. During the spring and fall months these 
winds blow at intervals more or less frequent. As few as 
twelve days of north wind have occurred during a spring season 
and as many as forty. In a large number of instances a wind 
from the north does not cease under three days, though they 
sometimes last during a single day only, and much oftener 
extend during a week, rarely several weeks. 


The north winds are remarkable for an extremely low 
humidity, or moisture, reaching often as low as eighteen. Dur* 
ing their prevalence there is a general feeling of depression in 
the animal spirits, and plants suffer largely. Growth of vege¬ 
tation is retarded, and fruits and grain suffer in form and sub¬ 
stance, wheat just coming into the milk state being especially 
injured. The exceeding dryness of these winds is readily 
accounted for by well-known atmospheric conditions. That 
portion of the upper current which descends to the earth at 
very high latitudes has as a consequence precipitated moisture 
to the possible limit. 

When those currents descend into the valley the tempera¬ 
ture is measurably raised and capacity for moisture largely 
increased. They thus come to us as unusually dry winds, so 
dry indeed in some instances that the land and water surfaces, 
animals and plants, are called upon to lose the surface moisture 
to an extreme degree in quantity and rapidity. To such facts 
are those depressed feelings experienced by most living things 
within their influence due. The winds are freighted to some 
extent with electrical properties, but not to that degree often 
supposed. The nervous uneasiness often felt during northers 
does not come from the presence of electricity, but is an affec¬ 
tion in the animal system caused by overact on in the tissues 
and excessive evaporation from the body. 

ELECTRICAL ACTION OF THE NORTH WINDS. 

At a meeting of the Academy of Sciences, thei’e was a dis¬ 
cussion of the effects of the north wind. Dr. Harkness stated 
that it was his opinion that the damage to plants done by our 
northerly winds, was not due to actual desiccation in drying 
up the sap, but to some peculiar electrical condition, which 
arrested the cell growth. Before such northers, plants shrivel, 
curl and show signs of great distress, but with the return of 
soft, moist magnetic breezes from the equator, they soon 
resume their fresh and vigorous appearance. These changes 
are far too sudden to be due to desiccation or absorption, but 
ai’e attributed to a cessation of cell rotation, induced by electri¬ 
cal disturbances, which we know take place during the con¬ 
tinuance of our northerly winds. They caused an uneasiness, 
which results in dog fights, runaway horses, cross dispositions, 
pallid faces, etc. Dry atmosphere is a perfect non-conductor, 
but all moist plants and animals, as well as men, then become 
so many miniature lightning rods. The nerves are at such 
times continually irritated by a constant succession of tiny 
blows, like telegraphic ticks, against the nerve centers. They 
conti-act and produce a congestion of the organs; the blood 
becomes turbid, while kidneys, liver and lungs all suffer. We 
were always surrounded by electricity, but did not perceive it 
until its equilibrium was destroyed, when it became manifest. 
In some parts of India, silk underclothing is necessary to com¬ 
fort, at certain altitudes, during dry north winds, and in other 
parts no relief is found in this clothing. 









148 


THE RAINY SEASON OF CALIFORNIA. 


Mr. C. D. Gibbes, C. E., remarked that when surveying dur¬ 
ing our north winds, in the San Joaquin Valley, the electrical 
disturbance was so great as to cause the needle of his compass 
to iiy up against the glass and become useless during the first 
part of the day, when in the field; but that if he took the 
same compass into a warm, moist room, it again acted nor¬ 
mally. Engineers in Santa Clara and Calaveras Counties 
report the same action and dip of the magnetic needle during 
the prevalence of our dry northers. 

Dr. Henry Gibbons, Sr., thought this electric action more 
subtle than from any apparent mechanical evolution of electric¬ 
ity from friction of the passing wind over the surface of the 
earth. He said all persons felt cold, for it drove the circula¬ 
tion from the surface to the interior of the body has been 
marked. The death-rate has been claimed to increase at such 
times. He had a patient whose eyes always blinked and 
snapped during a north wind, even in a warm, moist room, 
entirely protected from direct contact with the wind. 

RAINY SEASON OF CALIFORNIA. 

The season of rain in this section may be said to commence 
in October and end in May, though it sometimes rains in June. 
It is rare that it rains longer than two or three days at a time, 
and the intervals between rains vary from a few days to a 
month or six weeks. Old Californians consider the winter the 
most pleasant part of the year. As soon as the rain com¬ 
mences in October, the grass grows, and by the middle of No¬ 
vember the hills and pastures are green. So soon as the ground 
is in condition to plow, after the first rains, the farmers sow 
their grain. December is usually a stormy month, with now 
and then a fall of snow in the mountains, but it is rare that 
the snow falls in the valleys, and never lies on the ground. 


No rain-fall tables have been kept for a succession of years in 
any valley, except at Sacramento, where records have been 
kept for thirty years, as well as the number of rainy days. 

The following diagram shows at a glance the amount of 
rain-fall for any one year as compared with another:— 


Diagram and Rainfall Table. 


Arranged for Elliott & Moore’s County History, showing the 


amount of rain in inches for each rainy season during thirty years, 
from records kept by the late Dr. T. M. Logan, and Dr. F. M. Hatch, 
of Sacramento. These tables are generally taken as representative of 

the whole State. 

[scale one-ninth of an inch to an inch of rain.] 

Year. Rain-fall—Inches. Rainy Days. 

1S49-50. 36.00. 53. 

1S50-51. 

4.71. 

46. 




1851-52. 

17.98. 

48. 




1852-53. 

36.15. 

70. 

1853-54. 

20.06. 

76. 

1854-55. 

18.62. 

71. 

1855-56. 

13.77. 

54. 




1856-57. 

10.44. 

51. 




1857-58. 

18.99. 

56. 

1858-59. 

16.04. 

58. 




1859-60. 

22.62. 

73. 

1860-61. 

15.54. 

70. 




1861-62. 

35.54. 

S3. 


1862-63. 11.57. 


1863-64. 8.S6. 37. 


The thermometer seldom goes as low as thirty-seven degrees 
above zero. Occasionally there is a thin coat of ice over the 
pools of standing water. 

December is usually the month of heaviest rain-fall. In 
January we begin to recognize an indescribable feeling of 
spring in the air; the almond trees blossom, and the robins 
come. During this month grass and early-sown grain grow 
rapidly. If the earl}' season has not been favorable for seed¬ 
ing, grain may be sown in January, February, or March, and 
it will produce well. In this county it is often sown as late 
as the middle of April, producing a fair crop. As a rule, the 
bulk of the planting is done either in the fall or in January, 
February, and the first half of March. 

February is a growing month, and is one of the most pleas¬ 
ant in the year. It is like the month of May in the Eastern 
States. Peach and cherry trees bloom in this month. March 
is a stormy month; we are liable to have either heavy south¬ 
east storms or a dry north wind. 

The amount of rain-fall differs in almost every locality 
The rain-fall of different places will be found on another paT 


1864-65. 22.51. 59. 


1865-66. 


17.92. 


69. 

1866-67. 


25.30. 


71. 

1867-68. 


32.76. 


88. 

1868-69. 


16.64. 


58 

1869-70. 


13.57. 


47. 

1870-71. 


8.47. 


37. 

1S71-72. 

24.05. 


69. 

1872-73. 


14.20. 


39. 

1873-74. 


22.89. 


80. 

1874-75. 


23.64. 


76. 

1S75-76. 


25.67. 


68. 


1876- 77. 9.32. 

M'-H. WIts 

1877- 78. 21.24. 


1S7S-79. 

1879-80. 


16.77. 


26.65 


64. 


75. 












































































WHERE THE RAIN-FALL IS GREATEST. 


149 


A MONTH OF SUNSHINE AND SHOWERS. 

April, as in the Last, is often all smiles and tears, sunshine 
alternating with showers. Nature pushes her work in April, 
and vegetation grows astonishingly. The turning-point of the 
crop comes in the long, warm days of this month; the rainy 
season is about over, and from that time till it matures the 
crop is sustained by the moisture already in the soil. In June, 
grain matures, and by the middle of July it is ready for 
hai vest. 

In April a last shower occurs, and then begins the dry sea¬ 
son. From that time until November there is no rain; every¬ 
thing is dry and parched; the grass cures and becomes hay as 
it stands in the fields, and the dumb brutes fatten and grow 
sleek on it. Persons camping out require no tents. 

WHERE THE RAIN-FALL IS GREATEST. 

The comparatively great rain-fall of the country north of 
the Sacramento, as contrasted with the plains upon the 
south in the San Joaquin and Tulare country, is to be attrib¬ 
uted to the same cause; for while the main volume of the rain 
current entering through the break and the adjacent depres¬ 
sions of the range west of San Francisco Bay, and then fol¬ 
lowing the water-level back to Sacramento, keeps on with its 
original northeasterly sweep to the section north and east of 
the river, any portion of the current seeking to turn aside to 
the level plains upon the south must double back upon itself 
and struggle against the drier portion of the same southwest 
wind, which has, in the general sweep, after losing a large por¬ 
tion of its moisture in crossing, forced its way over the higher 
line of the same Coast Range south of San Francisco and 
passed on directly inland. Hence the rain-fall of the countrv 
north and east of Sacramento increases, while upon the south 
although the land drains by the same outlet to the sea, it 
steadily diminishes 

The working of the same law may be seen, although upon 
a more limited scale, in the smaller valleys which surround and 
drain into San Franfisco Bay. Napa Valley, lying upon the 
north, with its mouth opening at an acute angle toward the 
incoming rain-current of the Golden Gate, hardly knows 
what it is to have a failure of crops through lack of moisture; 
while Santa Clara Valley upon the south, and opening out 
toward the north, rather in the direction toward which the 
rain-current is going than toward that from which it is com¬ 
ing, has a much lighter rain-fall, and suffers from drought 
more frequently. The lower and moister stratum of the rain- 
current, entering at the Golden Gate, in order to reach the 
Santa Clara Valley would have to double back upon itself, and 
battle with the direct current from the south, which, after 
parting with enough of its moisture to water the Santa Cruz 
country, has already forced itself, a partly desiccated wind, 
over the mountains of the Coast Range through what is known 
as the Santa Cruz Gap. 


INFLUENCE OF COAST RANGE. 

The influence of the Coast Range upon the climate of the 
interior valleys is felt in still another way: by obstructing the 
inward flow of the daily sea-breeze, with its moister air, its 
lower temperature and the frequent night fogs, evaporation in 
these valleys goes on with scarcely a check the moment the 
rains ai’e over, and so the water that does fall is more quickly 
dried up. 

The direction of the two ranges, the Coast and the Sierra, 
also has its influence, and that far from a favorable one, upon 
the climate of these valleys; for, by their course from north to 
south, they leave the country open to the full sweep, both 
winter and summer, of the harsh, dry north wind, while the 
chill which comes with this wind in winter retards and checks 
vegetation during the first three months of the rainy season, 
and, to that extent, practically shortens what might otherwise 
be the season of most rapid growth. 

RAIN COMES FROM SOUTHWEST. 

The winter rain-current, which is a southwesterly wind 
blowing in from the sea, has to cross this Coast Range before 
it can reach and water the dry interior valleys. According to 
a well-known law, it parts with much of its moisture in climb¬ 
ing the elevation, giving a climate upon the ocean face of the 
range damp and foggy—home of the redwood and fern, both 
of which are types of vegetation flourishing only in a compara¬ 
tively humid atmosphere. After crossing this range, the rain- 
current thus deprived of a large portion of its moisture, passes 
on to give a lighter rain-fall upon the level plains of the inte¬ 
rior, until it reaches the tall line of the Sierra, where, with 
the cold of a still greater elevation, the remaining moisture is 
wrung out of the clouds, giving precipitation largely in excess 
of that which fell in the valleys; and again we find forests of 
dense growth, yet of a type that does not, like the redwood, 
need the constant humidity of the ocean air, which after the 
winter rains have ceased, rolls in a daily fog to the seaward 
face of the Coast Range. How thoroughly the Sierra has 

accomplished the remaining work of condensation is show T n in 

/ 

the almost hopeless aridity of the plains lying eastward 
from its base, and to which the now desiccated rain-wind next 

passes. 

This winter rain-current in its sweep inland passes over the 
crest of the Coast Range in a more or less continuous sheet; 
yet, like a a vast aerial river, which it is, it avails itself of every 
break and depression of the range to pour through in still 
denser volume. And it is opposite these breaks and depres¬ 
sions of the range that Ave find the line of greatest rain-fkll in 
the interior valleys, as the lower and more humid portion of 
the current has at these points been able to reach the interior 
without having its moisture wrung out in crossing the range. 
It is in this way that the Sacramento country, with its river- 











150 


CLIMATE FOR HEALTH AND PLEASURE. 


valley leading out to the ocean through the break in the Coast 
Range which forms the entrance to San Francisco Harbor, has 
a greater rain-fall and a more humid climate than the plains 
which lie behind the range. Whoever has stood and watched 
the evening fog roll in at the Golden Gate, seeking, like a river 
flood, first the low level of the water-ways, and then the broken 
passes in the hills, will readily understand how the southeast 
currents of the winter obey the same general law. 

HEALTHFULNESS AND PLEASURE. 

Epidemics and virulent infections have been rare and disin¬ 
clined to spread, and the more general and mild temperature of 
this region tends to stay the development of pulmonary affec¬ 
tions and diseases of the respiratory system, which the chilling 
fogs and harsh winds of the coast are liable to provoke. 

The numerous valleys and pleasure resorts of the mountains 
afford an unlimited field for those in search of health or pleas¬ 
ure. The whole range of mountains extending the entire 
eastern boundary of the county is a succession of beautiful 
mountain scenery. The valleys are often narrow (canons in 
places), winding, and with their tributaries are densely tim¬ 
bered ; whilst the mountain-sides, often to their summits, are 
clothed with a dense floi'a of trees, shrubs, and smaller plants. 
This verdure, much of it evergreen, gives to the slope of these 
mountains a dark green appearance. 

To a person who has spent all his life in one place, it is diffi¬ 
cult to convey a clear idea of the differences of climate, and of 
the advantages of a climate like that of California. One 
accustomed only to the clouds and showers of Ireland, or to the 
hot summers and severe winters of New York, has no proper 
conception of the influence of the clear sky and dry atmosphere 
of the San Joaquin Valley, or the even temperature of San 
Francisco, upon the general comfort. The differences of eleva¬ 
tion and latitude give, within a comparatively short distance, 
all varieties of climate, from sub-tropical to polar. 

VARIETY OF CLIMATE. 

There are within the boundaries of our State many different 
climates. At San Francisco in summer it is absolutely cold, 
whilst within three hours’ travel by rail, in the interior, 
toward the San Joaquin, you reach a region where it is, in the 
daytime, absolutely hot. 

Snow is very rare on the coast and in the valleys, and never 
remains on the ground in the valleys, except in the extreme 
northern part of the State. The Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
above an elevation of 8,000 or 9,000 feet, are generally covered 
with snow the entire year, and in many mining towns there 
are several months when snow remains on the ground. 

A marked phenomenon of the climate is the comparative 
absence of thunder and lightning, which rarely occui-s, except 
in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where thunder-storms are 
often as severe as in the Atlantic States. A residence of fif¬ 


teen years has not witnessed thunder loud enough to disturb 
one from a noonday nap. The coast and valleys of California 
are remarkably and wonderfully free from all violent storms 
of any nature, which occur so frequently east of the Rocky 
Mountains. Wind, hail, and thunder-storms, so frequent in 
the Atlantic States, never occur here. 

Out-door life here is practicable at all seasons and almost 
every day in the year. Oppressive heat is seldom felt, and 
nothing colder than a slight frost during the coldest mornings 
of winter. During all the summer months, from April to 
November, there is steady temperature. 

Fogs occur only occasionally, and then in the winter time; 
generally they do not hang over us long, disappearing as sud¬ 
denly as they came. 

VARIETIES OF CLIMATE. 

The climate of California may be divided into three classes- 
that of the Coast Range, of the interior valleys, and of the 
Sierras. The climate of the coast, and about San Francisco, 
is perhaps the most evenly tempered in the world—cool, invig¬ 
orating, and bracing. This evenness of climate and tempera¬ 
ture extends the whole length of the State, with but little 
variation. 

The seasons in California seem to be the reverse of the seasons 
in any other part of the world. December, at which time the 
rains have fully set in and the season when winter develops 
its severity in most parts of the world, and the succeeding 
months until May, are termed winter, or the “ rainy season” in 
California. About the middle of November the rains begin 
to fall in the valleys, and the Sierras receive their new fleecy 
robes of wintei', the skirts of which grow thin and ragged as 
they reach down the western foot-hills of the Sierra range, until 
they entirely disappear at the edge of the green sward, where, 
under the same sun and in the same latitude and longitude, the 
icicle and the honeysuckle struggle for the mastery. 

TEMPERATURE TABLE 


PLACES. 

w 

O. -0 

I.K 

5 

o cr 
o o 

ct- 

• © 

c*- 

D* 

© 

Mean of Tempera¬ 
ture for the year 

Mean of Tempcra- 

J ture for the cold- 

j est month. 

Lowest Temperature shown by 
thermometer in any y.ar. 

Sacramento. 

30 

00.48 

46.21 

28—December, 1849 

Auburn . 

1303 

60.71 

45.88 

27—January, 1871 

Colfax. 

2421 

60.05 

45.49 

26—January, 1874 

Marysville . 

07 

63 62 

48.70 

27—December, 1876 

Chico. 

193 

62.46 

45.19 

23—December, 1872 

Tehama. 

222 

05.20 

47.01 

23—December, 1871 

Red Bluff. 

307 

60.22 

48.29 

26—December, 1873 

Reddirto-. 


64 14 

46.72 

27—January, 1876 

Merced.... 

171 

63.10 

48.14 

28—January, 1876 

Modesto. 

91 

63.68 

47.69 

22—December, 1874 

Stockton. 

23 

01.99 

47.43 

21—December, r872 

San Diego. 

150 

02.49 

53.30 

26—December, 1854 

Los Angeles. 

457 

67.69 

58.95 

39—December, 1876 

Soled ad. 

1S2 

59.08 

45.23 

24—January, 1877 

Salinas. 

44 

57.95 

48.25 

24—December, 1874 

Holllister. 

284 

61.46 

46.53 

27— December, 1874 












































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EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 


151 


Lakes of Tulare County. 

While Tulare County has the largest lake in the State, it 
also has many small mountain lakes that are beautiful anil 
worthy of mention. 

Many of the lakelets in Mineral King are the work of 
glaciers. They can be ascribed to no other agency. They 
are in solid rock, their outlets are over solid rock. Nothing 
but a moving mass of ice could have worn out these depres¬ 
sions and removed the firm rock that tilled them. Tnis would 
plow up or gouge out the softest rock in its be i deeper than it 
would that which was harder. Instance, Silver Lake at the 
head of Lady Franklin Canyon. Its outlet is over the hardest 
metamorphic rocks. The lake basin is mostly in granite. 

MONARCH LAKES. 

These lakes are in the high Sierras. Lower Monarch Lake 
is at an altitude of about 10,500 feet at the foot of Miners 
Peak on Saw-tooth. The lake is surrounded by meadows cov¬ 
ered by nutritious grass. The lower lake covers about twenty- 
five acres, and the upper, perhaps as much as 150. The depth 
of these fine lakes probably exceeds fifty feet, and the larger 
may be 100 feet deep. But this can never be kuown definitely 
till there are boats and sounding apparatus upon their smooth, 
blue waters. 

Any enterprising citizen who will put boats and suitable 
shelter there, will provide most admirable sport for all who 
are fond of peak climbing, trout fishing and mountain sports 
in general. There is no better point in all that region from 
which to visit its deepest and grandest gorges and its lofty 
peaks that surround you on all sides, within five or six miles. 

The upper lake is about 300 feet higher than the lower one. 
The whole mountain region abounds in beautiful lakes of clear 
cold water. 

TULARE LAKE. 

This fresh water lake, or inland sea, is a fine body of water 
and the largest lake in the State. It is elliptical in form and 
extends at least thirty-three miles from northwest to southeast, 
and twenty-two miles in width from northeast to southwest. 
It covers an area of probably 600 square miles, equal to one- 
half of the size of the State of Rhode Island. The area of the 
lake is a very uncertain quantity; several times within the 
memory of the oldest' inhabitant it has been four times as 
large, and on two occasions, at least, as small as it is now, 
leaving dry vast tracts of level, rich soil, capable of producing 
the finest crops without irrigation. Lands now under cultiva¬ 
tion have been for years ten or fifteen feet under water. 

In 1860 Tulare Lake stood at vei’y near the same level it 
occupies now. It was raised several feet by the great freshet 
of 1862, and its area about doubled, and a large stream was 
discharged from it into Fresno Slough, by way of Summit 


Lake. From this period the lake began to retire again toward 

• 

its former level. The freshet of January, 1868, caused Tulare 
Lake to discharge a sheet of water over the surface of Summit 
Lake one mile wide and six feet deep. It then covered about 
one thousand square miles of territory. Much of the land 
inundated had been surveyed in 1857 and returned as dry 
lands. 

Since 1868 the lake has lowered from one to two feet every 
year, and is now some twenty feet below high water mark. 
Since that time it has been gradually decreasing, until now it 
appears to have reached its minimum. The diversion of the 
various streams from Kern to King’s River has something to 
do with this shrinkage of its waters undoubtedly, but this 
would avail little to prevent their expansion to the utmost 
limits they have attained in the event of a wet season. Should 
one again occur the settlers on the land bordering the lake 
would find themselves in an uncomfortable situation, unless in 
the meantime an outlet, and its present levee, should be pro¬ 
vided in the direction of the San Joaquin River. 

A large tract of the lands thus laid dry have been surveyed 
and were returned to the Government as swamp lands; but a 
ruling that lands laid dry by the retiring of a lake are not 
swamp lands, caused Geo. Hardinburg of San Francisco, to be 
appointed to re-examine them, and in many places he found 
them covered with heavy wheat stubble, without any other 
reclamation than that of plowing and seeding. 

These lands are of a light loam, very fertile, and kept con¬ 
stantly moist by their proximity to irrigate lands on the one 
side and the lake on the other. They areabmt as fine looking 
lands as the American farmer ever cast eyes over. 

Some five thousand square miles of the western slope of the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains drain into Tulare Lake without 
counting the discharge of King’s River, one outlet of which 
enters the San Joaquin. Half of all the water entering Tulare 
Lake hereafter will come from Kern River. 

In Kern County most of the water has been taken for irri¬ 
gation, and Kern and Buena Vista Lakes have been very much 
lowered and much of the lands along Buena Vista Slough have 
been brought into a state of cultivation. In case of an extraor¬ 
dinary freshet in Kern River then these lakes must be filled 
and all the low lands of Kern County must be first to suffer 
before any great disaster befalls the settlement on Tulare Lake. 

EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 

The only thorough exploration of this inland sea was made 
in 1882 by Capt. G. VV. A. Wright, to whom we are indebted 
for his very valuable records of the trip and results of explora¬ 
tions. 

The first boat of any consequence placed on the lake by a 
white man, was a fore-and-aft schooner, built for A. J. Atwell, 
a lawyer in Visalia, and named by him the Mose Andross, 
from a friend of his in the United States Land Office there. 







152 


EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 


She was about fifty by fifteen feet, and flat-bottomed, that she 
might draw as little water as possible. She was built in 1875 
and was used (as also a small boat had been used before her), 
to carry cattle and hogs from Atwell’s Landing, on the north¬ 
east shore near Creighton’s point of timber, and from Gordon’s 
Point on the west side, to Root Island or Atwell’s Island, then 
in the south end of the lake, now part of its southern main¬ 
land. The next year, this craft was equipped as a sidewheel 
steamboat, and continued her business for Atwell, until the 
lake water so receded that Atwell’s Island and its neighboring 
Bird Island, Brown Island, and Pelican, or Skull Island, ceased 
to be islands and became, as they now are, parts of the main¬ 
land on the south shore of the lake. 

In February, 1879 Mr. Wright saw this steamer stranded 
near the mouth of King’s River. Soon after that the machinery 
was removed, the boats dismantled and finally abandoned, and 
the waters of T ulare Lake knew them no more. 

A sail-boat twenty feet long was built by Jim Me, the boat 
hermit, and used on the lake for several years, until it was 
stranded in the summer of ’78, and remained on shore occupied 
by him as his home. 

A schooner thirty-six feet long was built for a Mr. Hill, of 
Lemoore, several years ago, to be used in fishing for terrapin. 
But she was wi'ecked in a gale one night on the western shore, 
aud abandoned. She was afterwards drawn out on the beach 
and dismantled. Near her lay also another smaller sail-boat» 
no longer in use, though it made regular trips in the spring 
and summer of ’80 and ’81 tocan-y butter from Clark & Cox’s 
dairy ranch to the mouth of King’s River for the Lemoore 
market. 

SCHOONER WATER WITCH. 

We give in our illustration a view of this, the only vessel on 
Tulare Lake. We also show the stumps of a former forest near 
the edge of the lake. 

The Water Witch has been employed on the lake for the last 
four years to catch terrapin for the San Francisco market; 
also, for occasional fishing and hunting excursions. Though 
small, she is really a well-built boat, and in her our late sail 
around and over the lake was successfully made. But how 
came such a boat on Tulare Lake ? She was built at least ten 
years ago at Mare Island Navy Yard, as a dispatch boat to 
Alcatraz and to the city. She was then called the Alcatraz, 
and was fourteen oar boat, sprit-sail rigged, though used chiefly 
for rowing. The best Eastern wood was used in her construc¬ 
tion, so that her entii'e hull is in excellent condition to-day, 
and she leaks scarcely any. She is clinker built—that is, 
weatherboarded, and fastened together with copper rivets and 
bolts. She is clipper built—-that is, narrow and sharp at both 
ends, for speed. She is six feet beam, thirty feet keel, and 
thirty-two feet over all, being about three tons burden. She 
has a six-inch keel, and a five-foot centerboard. 


After several years employ as a Government boat, the Alca¬ 
traz was sold to parties on the Sacramento, and used a season 
or two as a hunting boat. She was then bought by a queer 
fellow, such as is known in these days as a crank, who deter¬ 
mined to bring her to Tulare Lake, and make a fortune by 
gathering the eggs of ducks, gulls, and other wild fowl to sell 
in San Francisco. He was familiarly called “eating Smith,” 
so morbid was his appetite and so great a dread was he to 
hotel-keepers. He spent most of the summer of 1878, bare¬ 
headed aud barefooted, tugging away with pole and paddle 
and rope to get this boat out of the Sacramento River, and up 
the San Joaquin to the head of navigation on Fresno Slough, 
at Watson’s, now White’s Ferry. He then had it brought on a 
four-horse wagon to Kingston, launched it there on King’s 
River, and floated it to the lake, eighteen or twenty miles 
distant. Making one or two trips on the lake, he found that 
he could not idealize his dreams. In fact, he could not get 
enough to eat on the lake. So he sold her to the McCoy 
brothers for some cows, and started a dairy ranch. Still, he 
could not get enough to eat. So he ended this long enterprise 
by killing the cows and eating them, having enough beef for 
once. The McCoys used the boat for two seasons successfully 
in terrapin fishing and excursions, sending to San Francisco as 
many as 300 dozen in one season, until a severe squall capsized 
and wrecked her, at a point about three miles southeast of the 
mouth of King’s River. She was rigged at that time as a 
sloop with a single large foresail, which made her top-heavv, 
and a jibsail. In this condition she was bought by her present 
owner, Capt. T. J. Conley. He remodeled her hull, decked 
her—the deck for about one-third aft being a foot lower than 
forward—rigged her as a fore-and-aft schooner, with wire 
standing rigging, and made her a very safe and dry craft. 
Her mainmast is eighteen feet high, her foresail twelve feet, 
her jib five feet, and, with mainsail, foresail, and jibsail, she 
carries between forty and fifty square yards of canvas. 

DEPTH OF THE LAKE. 

The expedition made many measurements of the depth of 
water. At some miles from the shore they got soundings of 6, 
7, 8, and 9 feet, the latter about half a mile from shore. In 
the next half mile they reached 11 feet, and an hour after the 
sounding, two miles from the western shore was 15 feet. The 
barometer was 29.00, temperature of the air 61°, and of the 
water 74°, about 10 miles from the western shore, and lake 
Gordon’s Point was barely visible nearly south; they got for 
some distance the deepest sounding 21 feet. 

At 2:10 p. M. barometer was 29.85, air 69°, water 66°, sound¬ 
ing 21 feet. They then tacked ship and sailed due south. The 
soundings of 21 feet continued until at 2:45 p. M. sounded 20 feet, 
at 3 P. M., 18 feet; and 3:40 p. M. 15 feet. They found all the 
changes in the bottom very regular and uniform, and all brought 
up from the bottom, at many points, with sounding lead prepared 






EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 


153 


for the purpose, a very fine bluish-gray mud. They had no 
doubt found the deepest water of Tulare Lake, which lies toward 
its north and west shores rather than at the center. All the I 
southern part of the lake is very shallow, as was found by 
many subsequent soundings. These soundings correspond well 
with those made by the engineers under Mr. Brereton, when 
the capacity of the lake, as a reservoir, was carefully taken 
when the now exploded plan of a west side canal was at its i 
height. The deepest sounding obtained then with very careful 
work was 31 feet over the same ground, where this party 
obtained 21 feet. This shows a fall in perpendicular height of 
10 feet in the lake water since the fall of 1873, or 10 years ago. 

Soundings across all the southern portion of the lake showed 

3, 3 h, 4, 5, and 6 feet, and then gradually diminished to 5&, 5, 

4, and 3. 

BUENA VISTA SLOUGH. 

This slough formerly emptied into the lake connecting it 
with Kern and Buena Vista Lakes to southward. But no 
water whatever flows there now, and not a particle of water 
in sight south of it, though eight years ago the Mose Andross 
and other boats could pass through Buena Vista Slough, and 
through narrow straits between Skull and Atwell’s Islands, 
and sail for miles to southward in water from ten to fifteen 
feet deep. Looking northward a depression between Gordon’s 
Point and the main-land is also perceptible. The water ran 
through here four or five years ago, and made an island of 
what is now Gordon’s Point. 

SKULL ISLAND. 


ains, that he is, indeed, on one of the most extensive and old. 
est burying grounds of the aboriginees of our Pacific Coast, a 
place that is fittingly marked to-day by the gloomy name it 
bears. So soon as this party had reached a point 100 yards 
inland, they found a bleached human skull entirely exposed on 
the sand, and around it a number of bleached bones that were 
probably killed and buried there by the Indians fifty or sixty 
years ago in a battle of which Indian tradition tells us, and 
mentioned elsewhere. 

RARE COLLECTION OF CURIOSITIES. 

Captain Wright had the good fortune in digging at another 
point to exhume with a skeleton a perfect and handsome 
arrowhead of obsidian, or volcanic glass, jet black, well 
shaped, 4^ inches long and 1| wide. The most curious point 
about this was that it seemed to rest in the body, as if it had 
been shot there and was the cause of death. 

Broken arrow and spear-heads, and fragments of chert, slate, 
quartz, flint, and other hard rocks are found scattered broad¬ 
cast over and in the grass as a token, perhaps, of ruin and 
desolation, but you seldom find a complete stone implement. 
Many of the most curious of these fragments are pieces of 
pottery, stone breast-plates, etc. 

Mr. Wright showed a number of handsome fossil shells 
that are found in large quantities in the foot-hills near a 
point of the lake. These were chiefly what are known among 
geologists as miocene shells, and were species of what are 
called (1) the cardium (2) the pecten (3) the venus. There 
were, also, some periwinkles. 


This island extends between five and six miles from west to 
east; is but little more than half a mile wide, though now, like 
Atwell’s Island, it is but a succession of rough sandy ridges or 
dunes. These are now covered with a thin growth of salt 
grass, their highest parts being about twenty feet above the 
lake surface. Yet, when Atwell’s Island, where two old 
houses still stand, was surrounded with water, it was seven or 
■eight miles Ion"- east and west and one to two miles wide, and 
was covered with good feed, such as wire-grass, or tule-grass, 
“ cat-tails,” or flags, alfilerilla, and the wild chufa, or grass-nut, 
the same, perhaps, as the one growing in Owen’s Valley, and 
called tciboose by the Piute Indians of Inyo and Mono Coun¬ 
ties. From 1875 to 1877, large numbers of hogs and cattle 

were carried there from the main-land on the Mose Andross — 

which was first a schooner, 50x15 feet about, and then a side- 
wheel steamboat. 

QUANTITIES OF HUMAN BONES. 

The explorer goes but a few steps south from the beach on 
this Skull Island, of which so many doleful tales have been 

told about circles of human skulls, and myriads of human 

bones being found there, before he is convinced, by countless 
fragments of human skulls and bones on the surface, mixed 

O 

with fragments of the hardest rocks from our loftiest mount¬ 


DREARY SURROUNDINGS. 

An adobe wall once the home of a Mexican called Pasqual, 
and a frame shanty west of the mouth of King’s River, and 
called “ The Deserted Castle”—all near the lake-shore—are the 
only signs of human habitations for a distance of between 
thirty and forty miles along the barren, desolate, repulsive 
waste on the western shore of this great inland lake. Not 
another building is there, until you see the two unoccupied 
houses on what was once Root or Atwell’s Island, now part of 
the main-laud at the extreme southeastern end of the lake. 

The foot-hills of the Coast Range Mountains approach near 
to the lake, some only about a mile distant in a straight line. 
But none are so near as to make anything like an abrupt bluff 
on the lake-shore. Indeed, nowhere around the lake is there 
any evidence that any such bluff has ever existed. The banks 
rise gradually, but more rapidly at this point than anywhere 
around Tulare Lake, and some half dozen successive terraces 
mark within 600 yards of the water’s edge the various heights 
of the lake since its highest during the floods of January, ’62 
and ’68, when its surface was eighteen or twenty feet higher in 
perpendicular than at present. Its depth, also, increases more 
rapidly on this shore, the deepest soundings found that day 
being ten feet only, a mile or two from shore. 









154 


EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 


Not a sign of a tree exists on all that shore, and it is full 
twenty-five miles to any timber in the coast mountains. The 
largest growth is what is called the “ greaseweed,” which 
proved to be identical with the “ sagebrush” of southern Kern, 
and of Inyo and Mono Counties. It is used for fuel, and quite 
a long brush fence has been built of it, inclosing about eighty 
acres of land. The shore north and west is low, and the very 
picture of desolation, with scattered bands of cattle and hogs 
along the waters edge. 

PELICAN ISLAND. 

This is a low, narrow strip of land in Tulare Lake, totally 
bare of vegetation as yet, and is a bar formed by the deposits 
of King’s River as an extension of the east bank of its east 
channel. It is a mile long, or more, from ten to sixty feet 
wide, and not more than a foot or eighteen inches at any point 
above the present lake surface. On this long, narrow, bare 
island thousands of our common white pelicans, and, associated 
with them on the best of terms, and also nesting, were hun¬ 
dreds of that one of two species of Pacific Coast cormorants, 
known as Brandt’s cormorant. 

GULL ISLAND. 

This island extends westward into the lake from the south 
bank of Tule River. It is a narrow bar now forming a small 
island like Pelican Island at the mouth of King’s River. As 
the lake surface falls, this bar is forming quite an island, 
though it is yet low, muddy, and without vegetation. On it 
may be seen many pelicans and large numbers of gulls, and 
from the latter, gave it the name of “ Gull Island.” 

It should be remembered that this and “ Pelican Island” are 
now the only genuine islands on all the broad surface of Tulare 
Lake, and they are so narrow and flat as scarcely to deserve 
the name. 

STORMS ON THE LAKE. 

The lake is noted for its sudden and rough storms. The 
following account given us by J. W. A. Wright will give some 
idea of them:— 

“The Captain of the Water Witch, knowing that all hands 
were tired, and would sleep soundly, requested me, if I awoke 
in the night and found a heavy wind from the northward, to 
call him, as it might be best to sail from that dangerous coast 
by night. Soon after 10 P. M. the heavy rolling of the 
schooner awakened me. The waves from the north were get¬ 
ting heavy, and a strong wind was whistling from the north¬ 
west. I called Captain Conley a half hour later, for matters 
were getting worse and worse. He said we must sail at once 
and try to get around Gordon’s Point, where we could be pro¬ 
tected in Terrapin Bay from the fury of an approaching 
storm. So furious was the wind that only the mainsail and 
jibsail were set. 

“ In ten minutes’ time the anchor was up, and away we 
dashed, with a spanking breeze, in a high sea for Tulare Lake, 


sailing southward. The stars were bright and beautiful, 
though occasionally clouds obscured them, and with the sound¬ 
ings were our only guides. We sailed first south toward Scorpio 
till our sounding was seven feet. Then we turned south of east, 
our soundings varying to six, seven, eight, seven, six, five and 
one-half feet, heading towards the star Altair in “The Eagle,’’ 
and sometimes to “ The Dolphin.” Captain Conley was at the 
helm, Lewis Atwell looking after the sails, and your corres¬ 
pondent was to the leeward casting the load every five minutes 
or less. From our anchorage to Gordon’s Point, about nine 
miles, is one of the very roughest parts of the whole lake. 
Hence our anxiety to get away from it, even by a risky sail 
at midnight. 

“Gordon’s Point is a low, sandy beach, extending out from 
the southwest shore of the lake, at a point less than three- 
fourths of the distance from the mouth of King’s River to the 
Willows, on Skull Island. Several sandy spurs jut out from 
it to eastward into the lake, marking shoal water at several 
points. Its name is said to be from a man who was murdered 
near it for his money. This Gordon’s Point, extending out a 
full half mile from the main-land, forms just south of it a cove 
that forms a very safe harbor from the northern winds and 
waves. 

“ Part of the time we flew before the wind, at the rate of 
eight or ten miles an hour, then the wind would lull and our 
speed would slacken a little. Part of the time the Water 
Witch kept ahead of the heaviest wind. Then came a lull, 
but soon the wind would catch us again, and away we went, 
dancing merrily over the troubled waters. It was splendid, 
exhilarating. Once in a while a larger wave than usual would 
dash over our sides, and many a time the boom of the main¬ 
sail dipped to leeward in the waves, but the little schooner 
rode like a duck, rolling but little, and before 2 A. M. was 
safely anchored in three feet of water near Gordon’s Point 
There we had almost a calm, but to northward beyond the 
narrow neck of land protecting us, we could distinctly hear 
the roaring winds and waves. 

“ But few noises have ever 1 heard that sounded more dis¬ 
mal, than in our night sailing on Tulare Lake, when in the 
midst of our silence we heard the gloomy howls of the coyotes 
as they prowled along the lake-shores searching for their prey. 
We heard them every night when we were near shore.” 

In water from three to six feet deep along the shore and all 
around the lake, are found large quantities of the chief one of 
the only water weeds growing anywhere in the lake. Some 
few are found in the edge of the shallow water in the mouth 
of King’s River, but nowhere else now are there any tules dead 
or living within less than 200 yards of the water’s edge. 
Nothing like a water-lily is found anywhere upon Tulare Lake. 
Its chief water weed grows in thick masses, with stems four 
to six feet long, its upper branches, leaves, and seed pods float- 








EXPLORATIONS ON TULARE LAKE. 


155 


ing on the surface. Fishermen find that where it grows is 
usually very soft and boggy, and though fish and terrapin, fre¬ 
quent these dense masses of vegetation—like groves under the 
water—they are generally dangerous spots to attempt to drug 
the seine. On a small scale, they are very similar to the 
numerous masses of sea weed in mid-ocean which Maury and 
others describe as “Sargossa Seas.” These masses on the lake 
are sometimes torn from their roots by storms and carried into 
deep water. On careful examination the low stems are round, 
smooth, pink, one-eighth of an inch through, and jointed, the 
joints from one to twelve inches long. These main stems branch 
chiefly toward the upper end, and at the joints. The leaves 
are green, succulent, and strap-shaped, two to three inches long, 
one-fouith inch wide, embracing the joints like sheaths, and 
tapering to a point. Each stem has several small seed pods 
near its ends. These look like small ears of corn or the seed 
of the “Wake-robin,” and are pinkish green in color. The 
only other water weed on the whole trip is a small feathery 
green moss, with stems two or three inches long, growing on 
the lake bottom in water from four to twelve inches deep. It 
belongs to the “Algie” and is most probably what botanists 
call a “ Conferva,” species uncertain. 

TERRAPINS FROM TULARE LAKE. 

From Tulare Lake come the turtles that make the rich 
turtle soups and stews of San Francisco hotels and restaurants. 
It is the western pond turtle common in the fresh water ponds. 
The Italians call it El-la-chick. These turtles are sent in sacks 
to San Francisco. During the season more than 180 dozen found 
a ready sale at the bay. Terrapins are taken with a seine 
The seine used for this purpose is a common fishing seine, 100 
feet long. To each end of the seine on the upper side a brail, 
or half-inch rope, sixty feet long, is attached. Two men stretch 
the seine in the water from two to four feet deep, by holding 
up the ends of these brails. They wade parallel about 200 
feet apart, and drag the seine from 100 to 200 yards toward 
the shore or parallel to it, according to the indications where 
the terrapins are. The main signs of the presence of the terra¬ 
pin are their heads held above water to get fresh air for a 
short time, at intervals. The two men then draw the ends 
together and lap them, making a circle. They then commence 
at one end and draw up the entire seine, taking out the terra¬ 
pin and sacking them as they are found. In this way, they 
sometimes catch eighty or ninety at a haul, under favorable 
circumstances. The largest are eight inches long and eight 
inches broad. They rarely drag the seine for these terrapin 
without catching more or less fish; sometimes only the worth¬ 
less suckers or “greasers,” which are very bony; occasionally 
some lake trout, a species of salmon trout and an excellent 
fish. 

WILD ANIMALS. 

The coyotes hold almost undisputed sway of a large scope of 


country west and south of Tulare Lake, and woe to the cattle 
or hogs, or antelope that mire down anywhere within their 
reach. Captain Conley and Lewis Atwood found on a boggy 
part of the lake on the north edge of Atwell’s Island, thirty or 
fortv carcasses of cattle that had mired down and been devoured 
by coyotes. At one point they found three or four still living 
but so torn and mutilated by the ferocious wolves that they 
had to kill them to end their sufferings. Finding these cattle 
mired near the shore, the light-footed coyotes leap upon them 
while they are still living. They found one poor brute still 
alive though the coyotes had actually gnawed into it and 
drawn out part of its entrails. Coyotes hold high carnival 
there. 

Coyot.-s were thick here in 1849 and while they never 
attacked a man, they would come into camp and carry off any¬ 
thing that was lyin_r around loose. They have been known to 
steal meat from under a man’s held while he was asleep. The 
coyote is a species of wolf, but is by no means so large or 
ferocious as those of the Eastern States. Of course they became 
a mark for every sportsman, and their number diminished very 
rapidly. There was a time when it appeared that they were 
about to become extinct, but for the last few years they seem 
to have become more numerous, and are giving the wool-grow¬ 
ers of the foot-hills a good deal of trouble. They ai’e on the 
plains and west of Tulare Lake or along the river. They are 
more shy now than they use to be and are much harder to kill. 

The coyote or fox is well known to the Californian—a kind 
of link between the cat and dog, and is sometimes called prairie 
dog, but is very different from the animal of that name found 
on the western plains. They often followed the emigrant train 
to pick up the bones and crumbs that fell by the way. They 
would steal eggs and chickens from the roost, but were great 
cowards, and a small dog would drive them off. 

BIRDS OF THE LAKE. 

Few birds were seen far out on the lake, and these were 
chiefly grebes (podiceps occidentalis). These are the long 
necked birds that are so noted as divers. They often keep 
only their heads above water, and down they go at the flash of 
a gun. It is very difficult to kill one of them. They frequently 
call to their mates at all hours of the night. 

Pelicans and cormorants are found in considerable numbers, 
also large numbers of “leather-winged” bats, that were skim¬ 
ming the surface in chase of Tulare Lake gallinippers, which 
sing more or less every evening on the lake. 

Professional hunters kill and ship every week from Hanford 
large numbers of swans, wild geese, and ducks. Private parties 
frequently go to Tulare Lake, spend a day or two there and 
return with plenty of these fine game birds for home use. A 
party lately returned from the lake, where they spent two nights 
and a day, brought home two swans, a white pelican, a dozen 
geese, and nineteen ducks. The abundant waters of the valley 








156 


THE TIMBER SUPPLY AND SAW-MILLS 


attract nearly all the species of the above game birds common 
to California. 

FISH OF RIVERS AND LAKES. 

The best fish taken there, or by the Italian fishermen in the 
lower part of King’s River, and sold in large numbers in May 
and June, in Hanford, Lemoore, and Grangeville, is what is 
commonly called the perch. They are undoubtedly black bass. 

Few portions of California, if any, are better supplied with 
water as resorts for water-fowl and fish than is the country 
around Lemoore, Grangeville, and Hanford, from the abundant 
flow of King’s River in winter and spring, and its partial flow 
in the summer and fall months. About four years ago the 
Fish Commissioners of California put fish of the black bass 
and white fish species in Tulare Lake. Their descendants have 
come up King’s River during high stages, and thence followed 
Mussal Slough ditch, when running full of water, into little 
ponds, where they are now found in considerable quantities. 
Here, then, we have evidence of three new species of fish added 
to the waters of Tulare Lake and King's River, including the 
catfish. 


Timber Supply and Mills of Tulare. 

The county is supplied with an abundance of timber The 
finest oak grove in the State occupies the delta of the Ivaweah, 
and covers not less than a hundred square miles of territory. 
This timber makes excellent rails and is employed in furnish¬ 
ing fuel to settlements in other counties. For five miles north¬ 
ward and twenty miles southward from Visalia, and extending 
across a belt of more than twenty miles in width, these large 
oaks are thickly distributed, in some places making almost a 
dense forest, while in other places they are less numerous. All 
the lands upon which these trees grow are of the very best 
quality, and, where cultivated, alfalfa and grain grow beneath 
their shade in luxuriance. 

THE BIG TREE GROVES. 

Groves of big trees, sequoia gigantia are along the western 
slope of the mountains, for a distance of seventy miles, in this 
county. More than half of all the known specimens of this 
species over sixteen feet in diameter are found in these groves, 
and here, so far as known, are the only forests where young 
trees of the species appear. Unfortunately, sheep men, in 
burning off the mountains to enable their sheep to penetrate 
the undergrowth, have destroyed hundreds of thousands of 
young trees of this species, and it may be safely assumed that 
more than ninety per cent, of all the young sequoia germi¬ 
nated from seed in the forests of this county within the last 
twenty years have thus been destroyed by fires. 

On the Sierras is the most magnificent forest in the world. 
This forest is beginning to attract more than local notice. 


Strangers are incredulous, and refuse to believe the truth in 
regard to the number and siz± of the mammoth trees. They 
have remained almost unknown to science. 

The number of these great trees is unknown, we might say 
countless. The forest is but partly explored, but this much 
we know, there is nothing like it; it is unrivalled, and grand 
beyond all imagination. The uninitiated would be astonished 
to count the consecutive rings of some of these giants that have 
been burned to the heart. They are older than Rome; old as 
the pyramids, and still green as if there had been an eternity 
of time in the past. 

VAST FORESTS NOT AVAILABLE. 

It is doubtful if the vast forests on the upper Kern and its 
tributaries can ever be made available for lumbering purposes. 
Evidently this can be clone only by very long flumes descend¬ 
ing the Kern for thirty, forty, or fifty miles, from points where 
mills can be built before attempting to cross either of the 
great divides to east or west. It is very questionable whether 
any of these divides can be successfully crossed in any part of 
Tulare Count}'. The only forests of the Sierra available for 
lumber are those on the western slopes of the most westerly or 
the Mineral King divide. It is here alone that the redwood 
groves exist. 

Consequently, the proposed Too-man i-goo-vah Park, as a 
Government Reservation, like the Yellowstone Park, would 
inclose none of the sequoia groves, and would not interfere 
with the important lumber interests. 

WASTE OF TIMBER. 

It will be many years before the western slope of the Sierra 
is stripped of its trees; because these resources are so vast and 
the cost of getting the timber to market is too great at present. 
The few saw-mills do not make much impression, as yet, upon 
the forests. Probably the sheep-herders destroy more timber 
every year than the saw-mills. After the pastures dry up in 
the lower foot-hills, the sheep are driven into the mountains, 
where thei’e is fresh herbage all summer. Besides the natural 
grass in many small meadows, the sheep browse upon the 
young leaves of many shrubs, and so are kept in excellent con¬ 
dition. 

The forest is of no consequence to the sheep herder, except 
as it affords sustenance for his flocks. At night he has no 
corral. Wolves, panthers, and bears abound, every one of them 
ready to pounce upon a stray sheep or lamb. In the place of 
the corral, a number of fires are set, in fallen timber or living 
trees, at points which will hem in his flocks for the night to 
such an extent that wild beasts are kept off. These fires are 
left burning after the sheep-herder departs. They burn for 
days, sometimes covering large areas. One can hear the great 
pines fall in the night, which may have been burning at the 
base for days. 

The timber waste is immense. All along the western slope 






css 






















































THE TIMBER SUPPLY AND SAW-MILLS. 


157 


of the Sierra for seventy-five miles into the mountains, the 
mai'ks of former fires can be noted at the base of the great 
sugar and yellow pines. There are but few of the large trees 
that do not show marks ot fire, which at some time has been 
raging there, although the guardianship is now more careful, 
and there is no present danger that these famous groups will 
again be overtaken by fire. The waste of water and the waste 
of timber go on, and as yet no Legislation has furnished any 
adequate remedy. 

This timber belt is from twenty to forty miles in width, and 
many of the pine trees would be considered of enormous size 
were it not that the “Big Trees,” so-called, are so much larger. 
Pine trees from six to ten feet in diameter, and from two to 
three hundred feet in height, are not uncommon. 

The climate of these mountain regions is in the summer 
season most delightful, and particularly favorable to persons 
subject to pulmonary complaints. 

FIRST SAW-MILL. 

The first attempt at making pine lumber was commenced 
about 1856 by two men, named Smith and Hatch, who after 
much difficulty found a trail by which it was possible to get to 
the pines with wagons. The road was a very primitive one 
winding around rocks and brush, up and down hills that now 
look almost too steep to lead a pack mule over, at length 
reaching the lowest pine at what is now called the Whitaker 
Ranch, on Old Mill Creek (by him called Fern Glen). They 
built a small sash saw-mill in the creek, run by a flutter wheel. 
As the supply of timber here was limited and very poor, they 
soon moved up to a place that is now called the “Old Mill” 
Crossing of Old Mill Creek. 

About 1857 appeared on the scene a man for many years 
after closely connected with the lumber business of Tulare 
County, J. H. Thomas, still a resident of Visalia. He bought 
the mill, refitted it, put in a steam engine, and began the 
manufacture of lumber on a more extensive scale. 

By the spring of 1862, the demand for lumber had grown so 
great that Mr. Thomas at great expense repaired the road and 
built a fine new double-circular saw-mill, with forty horse¬ 
power steam engine, one mile further up. However he was 
never to reap the reward due him for his labor and expense, 
for, during the memorable flood of that winter, a land-slide 
from the mountain just above the mill dammed the creek to a 
oreat height with earth, rock, and timber, making an immense 

0 

reservoir. When it gave way, it took Thomas’ Mill, and with 
one wild crash scattered it in worthless masses of rubbish for 
miles along the creek. He had sold his old mill to a man by 
the name of Fezzan, the price to be paid in lumber when the 
mill sawed it. The mill had been moved about six miles to 
the south, and, before it accomplished anything, was ruined by 
the same flood that swept the new mill away. 


OTHER MILLS ERECTED. 

About the same time that Thomas began his new mill, 
some people under the lead of two men by the names of Bost- 
wick and Ritchie, by private subscription and credit, procured 
a mill of the same capacity of Thomas’ which they set up at 
Shingle Flat, some three miles farther east. They called it “The 
People’s Mill.” This now was the only saw-mill in the county, 

and, as is common with such property, owned by no one and 

• % 

bossed by every one, it soon fell into litigation and passed into 
the hands of I. H. Thomas & Bro., in 1864. 

The spring of 1865 brought a new company in the field. 
An enterprising stockman named Jasper (Barley) Harrell, in 
company with S. B. Corderoy and the late R. A. West, began 
the construction of a water mill near the old Fezzan mill, to 
be run by a twenty-six feet overshot wheel. The mill was 
completed and fitted with a single sixty-two inch circular saw 
that fall. Two of the original owners having drawn out, the 
mill was now under the ownership and management of Harrell 
& Rodgers. They gave it the name of “ Foi-est Mill.” 

In the spring of 1866 there were two mills in running order. 
The People’s Mill was owned by the Thomas Bi-os. and W. T. 
Osborn, late County Supervisor. They employed about twelve 
men and sawed over 1,000,000 feet of lumber that summer, 
for which they found ready sale at fifteen dollars per thousand 
feet. The Fox’est Mill sawed three or four hundred thousand 
feet. The two mills were not able to supply the demand th at 
year. 

HOW LUMBER WAS MARKETED. 

The l’oads wei’e still in a veiy primitive condition, no more 
work having been done on them than was absolutely necessary 
to make them passable. A team generally consisted of seven 
yoke of oxen and two wagons. At first the wagons wei’e with¬ 
out frames or breaks. They depended altogether on lock-chains, 
with sometimes a log or tree draging behind to hold the wagons 
back, going down the steep hills. The oxen in the team wei'e 
called bulls, the drivers were called bull-whackei's. They 
drove with a club about two feet long, to the end of which 
was attached a huge lash some twenty feet long. 

In the spring of 1868, timber becoming scarce, the Thomas 
Bros, removed their mill about a mile and a half northwest to 
a new pinery and changed its name to “Sugar Pine Mill.” 
They did not get started till August, and sawed some 500,000 
feet that year. The Forest Mill had been torn down by a land¬ 
slide on Chi’istmas night 1867. It had x’ained all day as it had 
done for a week. The clouds wex-e low; the day was di-eai-y 
and lonesome; the night was one of those intensely dark, 
stormy nights that occasionally come in the pine forest, that 
one has to see in order to realize. Some time in the fore part 
of the night, quite a tract of land with heavy timber, on the 
side of Redwood Mountain, slid into the creek, forming a 
dam which collected a large head of water, then giving way 








158 


THE TIMBER SUPPLY AND SAW-MILLS. 


started down the creek crashing the timber before it. It 
carried away several log houses and swept away the Forest 

Mill. 

After this calamity, the owners of the Forest Mill found it 
necessary to rebuild. They decided to move it out of reach of 
high water and enlarge it to a double circular saw-mill, to be 
driven by a fifteen-inch double-turbine water-wheel, under 140 
feet fall, the water to be conveyed on an incline down the 
side of the mountain in a wrought iron flume. The mill 
was accordingly constructed on this plan; but when it was 
ready to start, they found they had something of the nature 
of an untamed elephant on their hands. Although they had 
an abundance of power, they found it very difficult to control 
water under such an immense pressure. The first time the 
water was turned on, a joint of the flume parted, deluging the 
mill and the operatives with water; next it burst the cast iron 
case around the wheel and continued to behave unruly. James 
Barton (now ex-Supervisor) bought the mill for 600,000 feet 
of lumber in the mill yard, to be delivered in two years from 
that fall. 

In the spring of 1863, P. Wagy (ex-County Treasurer), in 
company with H. Moore and D. Demasters, took their mill to 
the mountains, and set it up about four miles below Thomas’ 
Mill at a place called Loggers Camp. Here during the sum¬ 
mer they sawed about 700,000 feet of lumber. 

But this firm had personal difficulties, and G. W. Smith, now 
ex-County Surveyor, bought the interest of Demasters & Moore, 
in the Wagy Mill. The new firm decided to move it up to a 
place on Dry Creek, a mile and a half north of the Forest Mill. 

ROAD CONSTRUCTED TO THE MILLS. 

The winter of 1868 and ’69, Smith and Wagy and James 
Barton built a fine new road from Frame Flat, on Ashspring 
Hill, to the pinery, some six miles, at an expense of some 
85,000. This road they afterwards donated to the county, 
when it saw fit to survey and accept it. Thomas also spent a 
good deal of time and money in building roads. 

In 1874 the Supervisors ordered the Roadmaster, G. M. L. 
Dean, to put the road in order. This he proceeded to do in 
the most approved style, building culverts and digging new 
grades where they were necessary. When the bill—some 
83,000—was presented to the Board of Supervisors, they pro¬ 
fessed absolute horror at its magnitude; but as they had 
ordered the road put in repair, without limit as to expense, 
they finally issued the script to pay it. The road is substan¬ 
tial, will endure as long as time, and will always be a necessity. 
This made twenty-five miles of the best mountain road in the 
State, in proportion to what it cost the county. It is the only 
road from Visalia to the Big Tree Grove. 

Thomas’ Mill, valued at 810,000, caught fire in the night 
and burned to the ground. Everything was a complete loss 
except the boilers. Several thousand feet of lumber was also 


burned; and thus was destroyed the best mill in the county 
up to that time. 

In the spring of 1871, Mr. Barton, becoming discouraged by 
the previous hard year and his bad luck, and deceived in the 
capacity of the mill, turned back the Forest Mill to Mr. Har¬ 
rell, who immediately re-sold it to R. A. West and W. T. 
Osborn for 83,000. 

Mr. Wagy, having bought out his partner, Smith, now 
moved his mill to the site of the old Fezzan Mill, now called 
Mill Flat. This was in such close proximity to the Forest 
Mill that some hard feelings were caused between the two 
companies. This was heightened when Wagy began to sluice 
his sawdust into the creek, closing up the turbine wheel of the 
Forest Mill. The latter was closed down, and for a while liti¬ 
gation seemed imminent. It was, however, finally settled by 
Wagy wheeling out his sawdust and burning it, instead of 
sluicing it into the creek. 

o 

The spring of 1873 promised another good season for lum¬ 
bermen. The Forest Mill, now almost universally called the 
“Turbine Mill,” made a very early start under the management 
of J. H. Campbell and R. A. West, and after a little litigation 
with Thomas, settled down to steady work, and did very well, 
sawinw some 400,000 feet of lumber that year. 

Wagy &j Co. started early that spring, and everything ran 
smoothly. 

A FINE MILL ERECTED. 

J. H. Thomas began the erection of a mill that was to excel 
everything in the county up to that time. He selected a site 
on the north side of Redwood Mountain, about one and one- 
half miles beyond Wagy & Co.’s, where he had taken the 
boilers of his mill that burned down, and the boiler of the one 
that the flood destroyed. 

Early in the spring of 1874, Wagy & Co. were on the ground, 
rapidly pushing their large new mill to completion in the 
Stephens Pinery. Wagy bought out one of his partners, Mc¬ 
Lean, and then became a two-thirds owner, Smith retaining his 
one-third interest. They tore down their old mill, took such 
of the machinery as could be used in the new one, and dis¬ 
posed of the rest. 

Mr. A. Tyner bought the engine and took it to Mussel 
Slough, to run a flouring-mill. It is the little Hoadley engine 
that now drives the Grangeville flouring-mill, and it has given 
power to saw more lumber than any other engine in the 
county. 

% 

Wagy & Smith bought a new sixty-horse engine to run their 
mill. The capacity of the mill was less, but the variety of 
work turned out was greater than that done at Thomas’ Mill. 
It contained the following machineiy: Two sixty-inch circular 
saws, one gang-edger of five twenty-inch saws, one thirty-inch 
cutoff-saw, one band-saw, one small bench-saw to trim paling, 
one paling-header, and a large planer. 








TIIE TIMBER SUPPLY AND SAW-MILLS. 


159 


In July, 1873, H. D. Barton began the erection of a small 
water-mill, with muley saw and edger, in the lower edge of 
the pines, one mile above “Whipstalk Camp.” This he named 
the “Cedar Spring Mill.” 

THE CEDAR SPRING MILL. 

The Cedar Spring Mill struggled with poverty, and was 
treated with contempt, on account of its lilliputian capacity, 
which rendered it the butt of many a good jest by those that 
little thought that it would stem the tide and pay its way 
through, and come down to the present time, when its colossal 
contemporaries, after bankrupting every firm that had taken 
hold of them, had long since made their last struggle. Its pro¬ 
prietor, a mechanic of very moderate ability, had been almost 
a constant employee at some of the mills since 1865; and with 
little money and no credit, and almost with his own hands 
alone, built this small mill. 

He got a new sixty-horse-power engine to drive the follow¬ 
ing machinery: Two sixty-inch circular-saws, one twenty-four 
inch edger-saw, one cutoff-saw, one paling-saw, and a planer. 
He got this magnificent mill ready to start about the middle 
of July; and, surrounded by a fine forest, as it was, it bade 
fair to supply a need long felt—that of a superior quality of 
redwood and sugar-pine lumber. 

Wagy Co. determined not to be outdone. With that 
spirit of rivalry which seldom leads to success, they bought out 
the Stephens brothers in what was called the Stephens Pinery, 
about four miles north of the Union Clipper, and began the 
erection of a mill calculated to equal if not excel that of J. H. 
Thomas. 

FOUR MILLS RUNNING IN 1874. 

Four lumber-mills began operations in 1874. The Thomas, 
or Phcenix Mill, was rented to a man by the name of E. D. 
Merritt, a lumberman of considerable experience on the coast. 
Mr. Merritt was to take the mill and cut 8,000,000 feet of 
lumber for Mr. Thomas, at a certain fixed price per thousand 
for each different kind of lumber sawed. These prices were 
found to be less than what the lumber could be manufactured 
for.. Mr. Merritt had, at the start, taken in a partner named 
Osborn, a wharf-builder from San Francisco. 

A LARGE MILL. 

When the mill started, it was found to be of such a capac¬ 
ity—25,000 to 30,000 feet per day—that it was discovered to 
be almost impossible to supply it with logs, and the facilities 
for removing the lumber were so inadequate that it was diffi¬ 
cult to keep the mill from getting blocked up, so that it took 
a large number of men to keep it running at its full capacity. 

It was soon after leased to the Wallace brothers, but they 
soon retired from the mountains with a long list of liabilities, 
empty pockets, hearts of lead, and an invaluable stock of 
experience. 


In 1875 the lumber business had reached its zenith. The 
Forest Mill, under the management of Barton Campbell, 
made its best season’s run. Early in the spring the Phcenix 
Mill changed hands. Mr. Thomas, after so many disasters^ 
found himself so prostrated financially that he was forced to 
yield up his mill to his principal creditor, R. E. Hyde, now 
President of the bank of Visalia. 

Joseph H. Thomas was a pioneer of 1850. In January, 
1854, in company with a man by the name of Bodfish, he 
began the erection of a saw-mill in the coast redwoods near 
Gilroy, in Santa Clara County. He continued in this mill 
till 1857, when he sold out to his partner and came to Tulare 
and bought the saw-mill belonging to Smith & Hatch as first 
stated. 

sweets’ saw-mill. 

About the first of May, 1881, Mr. Smith Comstock, a man 
of considerable experience in the lumber business, entered 
into a contract with S. Sweet & Co. to cut and saw into proper 
shape 3,000,000 feet of lumber at the old Wagy Mill. In pur¬ 
suance to the contract Mr. Comstock employed a large force of 
men to assist in the work, and continued to run the mill. There 
was about 2,700,000 feet of splendid lumber cut, one million of 
which was hauled into this county and nearly the same amount 
into Fresno County. It has cost Sweet & Co. about $30,000 
to get this lumber cut, and none of the money went out of the 
county for freight. 

A ROAD NEEDED. 

If there was a good road made through the mountains to 
this lumber region, it would be a great benefit to both the 
lumber dealer and farmer. Lumber could be sold at reason¬ 
able prices in the valley, for the reason that it would not cost 
more than one-half as much to get it hauled as it does at the 
present time. There ought to be a good county road made up 
to this fine belt of timber. 

OTHER MILLS CONSTRUCTED. 

Green & Sharpton erected a steam mill in Crane Valley in 
1872. 

In 1854, L. Keeney started the Visalia Flouring Mill on Mill 
Creek, which runs through the village. This mill runs part of 
the season by water-power and the balance of the time by 
steam. The proprietors of the Tulare Flouring Mills are con¬ 
stantly shipping large quantities of flour to Arizona, New 
Mexico, and Texas. They also receive large orders from points 
in the southern portion of this State, and all agree in pro¬ 
nouncing the flour bearing the Tulare Valley brand among the 
best in the market. 

The Tulare City Flour Mill was burned in 1877. It was a 
fine mill, and cost $40,000. 

The Grangeville Flouring Mill was started by A. Tyner in 
1874. It has a Hoadley engine that was used in the mount¬ 
ains to run a lumber-mill. 







160 


THE MINES OF TULARE COUNTY. 


The Mines of Tulare County. 

Little has been said of the mines in the mountains southeast 
of Visalia, sixty miles distant. This mining district is situ¬ 
ated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, upon the waters of the 
South Ivaweah River, the head-waters of the little Kern Rive) - , 
big Kern River, Tide River, South King River, and North 
Kaweah River, in between the point and ridges that separate 
these fine streams of water. 

The district proper extends over a system of interior mount¬ 
ain ranges, being east and west of the main Sierra entirely in 
the State of California. These undulating ranges are quite 
peculiar, one will raise quite abruptly from the slopes, run con¬ 
siderable distance, and sink again into an ordinary level, while 
another of still greater magnitude will rise sometimes nearly 
parallel, but more often at a moderate angle, overlapping the 
other at each end. The main course of the system of mount¬ 
ains runs in a southeast and northwest direction. 

The highest peak of the Mineral King system is called 
Half Potato Hill,” and its estimated height is about 10,000 
feet. The average of the town site above the level of the sea 
is from G,000 to 7,000 feet. The mines are situated on the 
mountain-sides above the little town formerly called Beulah. 

GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 

The formations are composed of successive formations of 
limestone, slate, quarzite, and granite. For quite a distance 
in ascending the canon are encountered what geologists call a 
volcanic formation. After that the canon cuts down into the 
bowels of a lime and calcareous slate formation, intermixed so 
in alternate stratification that it is difficult to determine which 
is the underlying rock. These two formations appear to be 
independent strata thrown together by some violent throes of 
nature in ages gone by. At the upper side of the mineral 
belt there is a very prominent backbone or ridge of what is 
commonly called granite. Geologists have erroneously named 
this formation of granite porphyry. This appears to have 
been the main upheaval when the convulsion took place which 
formed the mountain. The slate and lime strata which form 
the actual mineral belt are to the west of it, and appear to 
rest on the granite and pitch to the west of an angle of about 
70°. 

A number of canons run nearly east and west through the 
valley, and cut and separate these formations at nearly right 
angles. 

These canons are all very deep and remarkably well 
supplied with water the entire year, iutei’secting the main 
ravine and certainly cutting into the foundations of main walls 
of the mountain ridges on the north and south sides. The 
two ridges which are intersected by the main ravine are about 


one mile apart. Numerous lodes of silver-bearing ores are met 
with in this district, of which argentiferous galenas are of the 
most frequent occurrence. 

FIRST QUARTZ MILL ERECTED. 

In 1878, Hon. Thos. Fowler embarked in the enterprise of 
mining. His persevei'ance and energy are worthy of public 
recognition. Fowler undertook the development of the Empire 
Mine that has proven so rich, and by his own means and that 
which his influence demanded through his own personal integ¬ 
rity invested nearly $150,000. 

About 1875 this district was discovered, but not until 1879 
had anything been systematically done to develop the im¬ 
mense wealth deposited in this rock-ribbed and gigantic range 
of mountains. 

EMPIRE MINE. 

At the head of a branch of Kaweah River is the Empire 
Mine. It is in a bold mountain which seems to be nearly an 
entire mass of mineral, as “ pay rock ” can be taken out at 
almost any. place on it which is prospected for a few feet. 
About two-thirds of the way up the mountain is a natural 
shaft which descends somewhat over a hundred feet and opens 
into a vast cave. This cave was explored and was declared 
“ to be lined, loaded, and filled with the richest kind of silver 
ore,” with well-defined veins running north, south, east, and 
west, through which nature has run cross cuts and drifts. A 
party who visited it in 1881 descended into the cave by means 
of a windlass and rope, in the latter a stirrup for one foot to 
go into and the descent being through an aperture perfectly 
straight, but so narrow as to squeeze a large man. The cave 
was explored for several hundred yards horizontally and 
reached “ a depth altogether of about 200 feet, with every¬ 
where the strongest and richest evidences of beautiful silver 
• ore.” 

Mr. Fowler and his associates have spent a great deal of 
money in opening up the Empire Mine. The mine is really 
a cave mine, full of air chambers, which aid very much in de¬ 
veloping it. They have gone down in one shaft 700 feet, in 
another 800 feet, and run 1,500 feet of tunnels. They have a 
fifteen-stamp mill. The ore yields from one-tenth to one- 
quarter gold. 

The following mines have been prospected and worked to 
some extent, viz.: The Empire, Silver Lake, White Chief, 
Maginnis, Crystal, and Pinnacle. Ore has been taken out of 
the Silver Lake Mine paying $200 to $300 per ton. This 
district yields milling quartz ore and smelting rock, also. There 
are many ledges yet not developed. 

The town, or mining camp, of Mineral King contains about 
fifty houses, including the Empire Stamp and Reduction Works. 
At present, it is in a torpid condition. 

WHITE RIVER MINES. 

This mining district was discovered about the time of the 















RES, 8? RANCH OF H.RORAY, EAST OF LE M 0 R E, T U LARE CO. CAL 






RES. OF DANIEL RHOADS, N .W. OF LEMOORE, TULARE CO. CAL 


EVERGREEN FARM 


* 
























































































































































































































































































































































»; r't 











THE MINES OF TULARE COUNTY. 


161 


rush to Kern River, in 1854, by miners who prospected the 
gulches and the river as they stopped here to camp. The mines 
attracted but little attention until the renowned Jack Gordon 
discovered rich diggings on a gulch that was named after him. 
and still is and always will be called Gordon’s Gulch. Gordon 
after many hair-breadth escapes, a year’s imprisonment among 
the Apaches, encounters with desperadoes, Indians, bears, and 
evei'ything else, succumbed to the pressure of a double-bar¬ 
reled shot-gun in the hands of a cowardly little Polander, who 
shot him without provocation. But Jack, true to his nature, 
after he received his death shot, drew his pistol and when he 
discovered who his assailant was, raised himself up and, in the 
agony of death, shot his mui'derer and kept shooting until his 
eyes were glazed in death. The little Polander l'eceived 'two 
shots, but l'ecovered. The encounter took place in L. Mitchel’s 
stoi’e. 

In 1855, there were several rich quartz veins discovered. 
One, known as the McCullough and Bullock claim, was 
woi-ked for years, and the ore averaged over 8100 per ton. 
This vein has been lying neglected now for moi'e than twenty 
years. There are a great many quartz lodes that are aban¬ 
doned, and will some day prove bonanzas. 

This district is partly in Kern and partly in Tulare County, 
about twenty-five miles east of the Southern Pacific Railroad, 
and the nearest point on the railroad is Delano. The district 
embraces about fifteen miles square of mineral land. The 
climate is as good as can be found anywhere. There is very 
little agricultural land here, and about all the land is good for 
is sheep and cattle. 

Thei'e is a little village at the junction of the main White 
River and south fork of the same, where there are two stores, 
hotel, school house, and sevei'al families. The town is owned by 
Mi\ Levi Mitchel. He is truly the monarch of all he surveys. 
He has been there for many yeai's, and is likely to stay much 
longer. The inhabitants of this place display a surprising 
emulation to see who can do the least, and they follow this up 
with great energy until they break down at it, and have to 
lay off to recuperate. Very little ever occurs hei'e to break 
the monotony of every-day life, unless a stray copy of some 
newspaper gets blown in, or some one receives a last year’s 
almanac ai'ound a pill box, which is carefully preserved to 
keep the run of the days of the week. Even then they some¬ 
times get Sunday in the middle of the week, but that makes 
little difiei'ence. 

The beds of the streams yield up monster bones and teeth of 
animals that inhabited this region thousands of years gone by. 
Williams has a tusk that he dug out of his claim on Grizzly 
Gulch over twelve feet long and larger than a man’s body, 
besides some very large teeth. There is a grand field here for 
the geologist and mineralogist. Thereare more varieties of bugs 
(some of them as large as a bird) than in any other place in 


Califoi'nia—lizards, snakes, tarantulas, and other venomous 
l'eptiles too numerous to mention. 

PROFITABLE MINES. 

The Tailholt Mines on White River ai'e now woi'ked energet- 
ically and seem to pay well. 

Deer Ci’eek has its famous Delano mine—one of the best 
paying mines in the State. 

In the vicinity of Tule has been discovered a mine, 
which will in the near future be a veritable bonanza to its 
ownei’s. The mine in question is the one recently discovei’ed 
by E. M. Bentlej’ and S. Belden, and which they have named 
the Telephone. This mine is located on Middle Tule about 
one-half mile above the old Jordon trail leading to Owen’s 
River, and about fifty miles distant from Visalia. Messrs. 
Bentley and Belden have a lai’ge foi'ce of men at work develop¬ 
ing the property, and work is being rapidly and vigorously 
pushed. The vein is about five feet wide, but the quai'tz is 
rich in both gold and silver. Messrs. Bentlev and Belden are 
both old and expei’ienced minei's, and have had large practice 
in mining. 

So much attention has of late been given to irrigation, and 
the agricultural developments of the county, that the valua¬ 
ble mining industries have been neglected and nearly forgotten. 
There are some good paying mines that continue to attract 
attention. It is evident that before long the mines of Tulai'e 
County will be giving employment to thousands of men 
There are lots of good quartz mines in the Sierras that will 
soon be putting forth their golden treasures. 

The mineral resources of the county are very great. The 
discovery of gold early brought the hardy miners to this re¬ 
gion; but outside of the eaidy placei’, but little has been done 
to develop the gi'eat mineral wealth of the county, or deter¬ 
mine the extent of the gold and silver quartz mines 
THE SOUTHERN MINES. ' 

The oldest intei’est in this section was mining, and to that 
was devoted the time, means, and energy, of the pioneex-s of 
the county. In the palmy days of ’49 large deposits of free 
gold were found in the creek a'nd river channels of the lower 
Sierras. These placei-s constituted a conspicuous portion of 
what was called the “Southei'n Mines,” in conti-adistinction to 
the first discovered “diggings,” located east and north of Sac¬ 
ramento. Years before the organization of the county the 
hills and lower mountains of the Sierras were alive with 
miners who, in many instances, “sti-uck it rich” and amassed 
immense fortxxnes in a short time. Gold-dust was the medixxm 
of circulation, rather than coin, and the value of property was 
estimated in ounces of the pure metal, instead of in dollars 
and cents. Just how much actual wealth was thus extracted 
from the soil, by means of panning, sluicing, and rocking, we 
have no means of even appi'oximating, but it would certainly 
be reckoned as millions. 








162 


TIIE PROGRESS OF TULARE COUNTY. 


Progress of Tulare County. 

Tulare County was, in early days, the principal stock-rais¬ 
ing county of California. But the adoption of the fence law 
induced the application of a system of irrigation to the arid 
plains where formerly very little vegetation grew; and the re¬ 
sult is that almost with a single bound, the county takes a 
position foremost among the leading wheat-producing counties 
of the State. In threshing the wheat crop of 1882, more than 
thirty threshers were employed for an average of about 
seventy days. These turned out an estimated average of more 
than 800 sacks each, averaging 135 pounds to the sack. Thus 
about So,000,000 worth of wheat, alone, was produced during 
the year. 

The average annual precipitation of moisture for the valley 
may be reckoned at about ten inches per annum, while at an 
altitude of 9,000 feet it must be reckoned as high as thirty- 
five inches. There are numerous places in the county where 
orange and lemon trees have been cultivated successfully for 
the last twenty years, and it is highly probable that a thorough 
knowledge of the business would bring the cultivation of 
citrous fruit into prominence in the foot-hill region. The 
neglected red lands of the valley are best suited to the cultiva¬ 
tion of the apricot. 

There are several large districts where slate and marble 
abound, and several dykes of dolemite limestone can be 
traced nearly across the county. The climate of course varies 
with the altitu le. Snow has not covered the valley more than 
three or four times in a quarter of a century; and the ther¬ 
mometer does not fall below twenty oftener than one winter 
in ten, except, indeed, where the atmosphere is rendered humid 
by excessive evaporation, as along the shores of Tulare Lake. 

With less than one-twentieth of the soil of the county un¬ 
der cultivation, Tulare County produces the sustenance for a 
million of people; and when her resources become fully devel¬ 
oped, she can feed and furnish employment to three times that 
number. 

FINANCIAL CONDITION. 

The finances of Tulare County were never in better condi¬ 
tion than they are to-day. No department is behind, while the 
Hospital Fund has on hand a surplus of 83,000; and at the 
beginning of the fiscal j-ear, the first of July, there will be a 
balance in the General Fund of from 88,000 to 810,000. 

The affairs of the county have generally been carefully 
managed by all of its officers. Its record in that respect is 
equal to any. 

Some thirty substantial bridges, reposing on piles of the 
most durable materials, span the streams at the different road 
crossings. These bridges are owned by the county and were 


constructed at an aggregate cost of more than 8100,000. The 
county has one of the finest Court Houses in the State, fully 
described elsewhere. The following is the tax levy for the 
last five years: For the year 1878, State purposes, 55 cents; 
county, 81.86; total 82.41. For the year 1879, State, 624 cents; 
county, 81.73J; total, 82.36. For the year 1880, State, 64 
cents; county, 81.66; total, 82.30. For the year 1881, State, 
65^ cents; county, 81.344; total, 82.00. For the year 1882, 
State, 59.6 cents; county, 81.30.4; total, 81.90. This shows a 
gradual decrease in the county levy, while the State levy has 
been increasing slightly. 

PROSPERITY AND WEALTH. 

Year by year the Assessor’s reports show a marked increase 
in the assessed valuation of all property. Nor is this to be 
wondered at, when we mark the strides made by mechanical 
invention in perfecting the tools with which the farmer works. 
But thirtv yeai’s have elapsed since the Mexican fastened the 
crooked branch of a tree to the horns of his ox (by thongs) 
and therewith lightly scratched the bosom of Mother Earth; 
then laboriously dropped the seed, one bv one, in the tiny fur¬ 
rows he had made. See illustrations of these tools on page 
31. 

IMPROVED AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS. 

Now, behold the mighty gang-plows, yoked to a score of 
snorting steeds and cutting a broad swath of brown mold 
across the green prairie, from horizon to horizon. Next the 
automatic seeder scatters the germs by millions; and where 
once was seen but the Mexican’s tiny acre of scanty stalks, 
now waves a billowy ocean ot yellow grain, far as the eye can 
reach. Not the slow sickle, or puny scythe must reap this 
harvest. The swift headers come, with waving wings and rat¬ 
tling blades, rejecting the treasured straw of the Eastern 
farmer, and daintily choosing only the golden heads. And 
last—no wooden flail with feeble beat, nor old-time fanning- 
mill, but the mighty steam separator, devouring heads by mill¬ 
ions, and making immediate l'eturn in hundreds of tons of 
clean, bright grain. 

Note also the wonderful increase of schools, churches, and 
all those institutions calculated to elevate and benefit man¬ 
kind. 

VALUATION OF PROPERTY. 

We are indebted to Seth Smith, County Assessor, for the 
following statistics concerning Tulare Countjq as they appear 
on the Assessment Roll of 1882:— 

Total value of real estate other than city and town lots, 
84,071,175; total value of improvements on the same, 8413,- 
120 . 

Total value of town lots, 8166,780; total value of improve¬ 
ments on the same, 8301,680. 

Total value of improvements on homestead and possessory 
claims, 875,860. 














THE PROGRESS OF TULARE COUNTY. 


163 


Total value of franchise, roadway, roadbed, rails, and roll¬ 
ing stock of railroads, $865,840. 

Total value of real estate, and the improvements thereon, 
$5,905,880. 

Total value of personal property, $2,094,596. Total value 
of all property, $8,000,476. 

Total number of acres of land assessed, 1,166,579. 

Total amount of bonds assessed, $10,491. 

Total amount of money on hand assessed, 8115,640. 

Number of cattle assessed, 15,391; value of the same, $186,- 
267. 

Number of horses assessed, 9,999; value of the same, $314,- 
719. 

Number of hogs assessed, 20,451; value of the same, $41,114. 

Number of mules assessed, 696; value of the same, $28,005. 

Number of sheep assessed, 258,880; value of the same, $313,- 
742. 

Amount of Solvent Credits assessed, $128,452. 

Number of wagons assessed, 2,666; value of the same, $128,- 
878. 

Value of machinery assessed, $99,092. 

Value of libraries, $3,905. 

Value of sewing machines assessed, $13,096. 

Value of watches assessed, $9,594. 

Value of grain assessed, $327,111. 

Value of furniture assessed, $45,066. 

Value of musical instruments assessed, $15,291. 

If the assessment of railroads had been the same as assessed 
by the State Board of Equalization for the year 1881, the 
assessment roll of 1882 would be $632,563 greater than it was 
for the year 1881. As it now stands the assessment roll is 
$159,483 over 1881. 

PROGRESS OF FIFTEEN YEARS. 


The following comparisons of a few items reported between 
1867 and 1882 will show the increase during fifteen years:— 



1867. 

1882. 

Assessed value of real estate. 

, .$ 592,248 

$4,071,175 

Assessed value of railroads.. 


864,840 

Total assessed value of all property. , 

. . 5,171,872 

8,000,476 

Number of horses. 

7,685 

9,999 

Number of sheep. 

. . 100,400 

258.880 

Number of hogs. 

18,651 

20,451 

Acres of land cultivated. 

6,310 

115,240 

Acres of wheat. 

3,236 

76,430 

Acres of land irrigated.. 

100 

25,000 

Number of saw-mills. 

3 

6 


VISALIA TWENTY YEARS AGO. 

In 1863 Charles M. Vallee was Postm ster at Visalia; W. 
N. Stuben, agent for Wells, Fargo & Co.; Rev. D. F. Dade, 
Principal of the Academy of the Nativity. The following is a 
directory of the principal business firms and persons at that 
time, the population being three hundred:— 

Attorneys: A. J. Atwill, S. W. Beckham, S. C. Brown, J. 
W. Freeman, Robert C. Redd, S. A. Sheppard, W. M. Stafford. 


Clergymen: D. F. Dade, R. C.; Thomas Cnivers, M. E.; G. 
M. Edwards, M. E. 

Physicians: Martin Baker, L. G. Lyon, H. L. Matthews, J. 

R. Riley, W. A. Russell, James M. Webb. 

Books: Charles M. Vallee, A. M. Rogers. 

Drugs; M. G. Davenport, Horace Morrell. 

Hardware: C. C. Strong. 

General merchandise: Solomon Sweet & Co., D. R. Douglas 
& Co., I. Levy, J. M. Browne, M. Reinstein, D. Wallack, Will¬ 
iam Byrd, John B. Hockett, E. Jacobs. 

Keysville. —Postmaster, Myron E. Harmon; ninety miles 
southeast of Visalia; Attorney, J. W. Freeman; physician, 
Charles de la Borde; general merchandise, W. Marsh & Co., J. 

S. Rothschild & Son, Harman & Williams, Adam Hamilton & 
Co. 


Lynn’s Valley. —Postmaster, H. Owens; sixty-two miles 
southeast of Visalia. 

Petersburg. —Postmaster, H. A. Rindge; seventy-eight 
miles southeast of Visalia. 


Tule River. —Postmaster, James Harrer; thirty miles south 
of Visalia; clergyman, John McKelvy. 

San Carlos. —Post-office applied for; agent Owen’s River 
Express, Edward Ivenson; seventy-eight miles due east of 
Visalia; population three hundred; physician, H. L. Mathews; 
assayers, H G. Hanks, O. L. Mathews; general merchandise, 
Hiram Ayers, Lenlett & Matthews, Loomis Bros., H. P. Gar¬ 
land; San Carlos Quartz Mill, S. E. Sayles, Superintendent. 

White River. —Postmaster, John A. Keyes; fifty miles 
southeast of Visalia; general merchandise, Levy & Co. 

District Court (Thirteenth Judicial District), Hon. J. M. 
Bondurant, Judge; sessions, fourth Monday in February, June, 
and October. 


County Court, sessions first Monday in January, March 
May, July, September, and November. 

Probate Court, sessions, see County Court. 


Senator, Hon. J. W. Freeman, Visalia; Assemblyman, Hon. 
Joseph C. Brown, Visalia. 


COUNTY OFFICERS.* 


OFFICE. 


NAME. 


SALARY. TERM EXPIRES. 


County Judge 

District Attorney 

County Clerk 

Recorder 

Sheriff 

Treasurer 

Assessor 

Surveyor 

Coroner 

Supt. of Schools 
Supervisors.— 


H. N. Carrol 

S. A. Sheppard 
J. T. Holmes 

T. J. Shackleford 
John Gill 

T. T. Hathaway 
E. H. Durable 
J. E. Scott 
William A. Russell 
M. S. Merrill 

First District, A. 


$2,000 

Jan., 1868 

$1,000 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1S66 

Fees 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1866 

Fees 

March, 1866 

$250 

March, 1866 

M. Donaldson, White 


River; Second District, R. K. Nichols, Woodville; Third Dis¬ 
trict, Pleasant Byrd, Visalia. 


* All residents of Visalia. 




















164 


DESCRIPTIONS OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


Description of Towns and Villages. 

TULARE CITY. 

The town site of Tulare City was surveyed, and the first 
sale of town lots was made at public auction in the latter part 
of 1872. A large depot, 240x40 feet, was built by the rail¬ 
road company, who, even at that early date, recognized the 
fact that it would be needed in a few years. 

There was but one house in this vicinity before the advent 
of the railroad, all this section being given up to stock-raising. 
After the terminus of the road was moved southward, and the 
construction force had left, the town did not make much head¬ 
way for several years. An enumeration January 1, 1873, 
placed the total population at twenty. In two years it had 
raised to 145. 

This place sprang into existence on account of the railroad, 
and is essentially what would be called a railroad town. The 
x’ailroad caused the country to be more thickly settled, and 
this population demanded home markets. The town is the nat¬ 
ural outgrowth of a demand on the part of the surrounding 
country, and therefore its permanence is established. 

Tulare City was made the end of the San Joaquin Valley 
Division, and remained the terminus of the road from the time 
of the arrival of the first regular train, in July, 1872, until the 
following November. In the spring of 1873 the first engine- 
house was built, and contained stalls for seven locomotives. 
In 1875 the capacity of the building was enlarged to thirteen 
stalls, and extensive machine-shops were built the following 
year. In 1878 the company put in one of the largest and 
most substantial turn-tables on the coast. Many side-tracks 
have been laid, and all trains change engines at this point, 
going north or south. A large force of men are kept con¬ 
stantly at work in the repair shops, a division superintendent 
and a master mechanic are located here, and many of the hands 
employed by the company have their family residences here. 

The round-house has thirteen stalls, and twenty-four engines 
work to and from this point, on the Tulare Division and the 
Goshen Branch. These shops employ twenty-four men. The 
blacksmith shops, steam hammers, spring forges, and copper 
shops are most perfect. The machine shop has thirteen lathes, 
planers and other machines; the boiler shops have rollers, 
shears, punches, etc.; the carpenter shop has burr saws, etc. 
Eight acres are inclosed and nicely ornamented with trees. 

TULARE LIBRARY BUILDING. 

In our views of this place will be found one of the beautiful 
and useful library building, erected by the liberality of the 
railroad company. The company has also provided an exten¬ 
sive library, or reading-room, billiard hall, etc., for the conven¬ 


ience of its employees when not on duty. The building, as will 
be noticed in the view, is of handsome design, and is one of 
the attractions of the village. It would be an ornament to 
any place. 

At the annual meeting of the Tulare Library Association 
held July 2, 1883, for the election of officers, the following 
were elected: S. Johnson, President; C. F. Hall, Vice-President; 
H. Congdon, Secretary; H. H. Francisco, Treasurer; C. M. 
Fisher, Collector; J. U. Bennett, Superintendent; J. C. Rich¬ 
ards, J. S. Williams and T. A. Lewis, Directors. For the fiscal 
year ending July 1, 1883, the total receipts were 8982-89; ex¬ 
penditures, 8782.95; leaving a net balance on hand of 8139.- 
94. 

Tulare is situated on the main line of the Southern Pacific 
Railroad, about 167 miles south of Stockton, 251 miles from 
San Francisco, and 231 miles from Los Angeles. It is the end 
of two divisions—Tulare Division, extending to the south, and 
Visalia Division, to the north. Elevation above sea-level, 282 
feet. 

On the 5th of July, 1875, a disastrous fire occurred, destroy¬ 
ing the business portion of the town; but the place continued 
to grow, and, notwithstanding a drought in 1877-78, and par¬ 
tial failure of ci'ops last year, the population cannot now be 
less than 1,200. During the year ending May 31, 1883, no less 
than ninety houses were completed. 

Great pains have been taken to set out ornamental and shade 
trees, so that some of the streets are almost embowered in 
shade from one end to the other, and others will be as soon as 
the trees are a little older. Some of the residences are hand¬ 
some, and most of them are neat and homelike. Among the 
numerous neat and tasty dwellings, we give illustrations of a 
few of the better ones, such as those of A. T. Cotton, A. D. 
Neff', E. J. Edwards, L. A. Pratt, Seymour Johnson, etc. 
Taken as a whole, Tulare City will compare favorably with 
most towns of its size in this or any other county. 

BUSINESS HOUSES. 

Among the prominent features of the town we may mention 
a full complement of general merchandise, hardware, provision 
and grocery stores, two good hotels, besides private boarding¬ 
houses, one first-class restaurant, two livery stables, two drug 
and variety stores, post, express, and telegraph offices, bakery, 
millinery, fruit, tobacco, and notion stores in profusion, city 
water-works, carriage and wagon factory, blacksmith, wheel¬ 
wright, and paint shops, undertaking establishments, baths, 
saloons, meat and vegetable markets, real estate and insurance 
agents, physicians, a dentist, one legal firm, artificial stone and 
concrete-pipe factory, tin-shops, harness and saddlery store, and 
a shoemaker. Among the most prominent of these we may 
mention— 

L. A. Pratt, undertaker, contractor, and builder. Has been 
established in business since the location of the town, and is 








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DESCRIPTIONS OP TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


165 


not only the pioneer undertaker of Tulare, but also is recog¬ 
nized as carrying as large a stock as can be found in the 
county. 

Mr. Pratt is a man of good judgment, and enterprising, as 
is shown in the contribution of his elegant residence to our list 
of illustrations, to aid in showing the improvements of Tulare 
City. He is well and favorably known throughout this coast, 
and has contributed largely to aid in its development. 

George G. Buckland manufactures buggies, buckboards, 
phaeton carriages, wagons, and agricultural implements. He 
also makes the Buckland Patent Buckboard-gear, and parts of 
the same for the trade. He has invented and manufactured 
three kinds of sectional harrows. He has a good brick shop. 

DeWitt & Richardson deal in real estate, and are well 
posted on all lands in Tulare County, and especially those about 
Tulare City and the artesian belt. Large and small ranches 
bought and sold in Tulare, Fresno, and Kern Counties. Fruit 
lands a specialty. 

Post-office Drug Store. —The chief drug store of Tulare 
is kept by Brooks Key, who deals iu all kinds of drugs, medi¬ 
cines, toilet articles, perfumery, etc. Physicians’ prescriptions 
accurately compounded night and dajc 

Tulare City Water Works were started in 1882 by D. 
W. Madden. He sank an artesian well and from the water 
pumped up he is supplying the place. The pipes are now laid 
in all directions, some 8,000 feet in all, and the storage capac¬ 
ity of the tanks, which are arranged one above the other, and 

are some sixty feet in height, is 4-0,000 gallons. (See illustra¬ 
tion.) 

Pacific Hotel is the leading one of the town, with D. W. 
Madden as landlord. The Pacific was started by Sawyer &; 
Baalam, of Sacramento, and afterwards sold to John F. Jordon, 
present Auditor of the county, and rented to various parties. 
But success never attended it until it came into D. W. Mad¬ 
den’s charge, who after purchase made many additions and 
improvements. He has done much to promote the growth of 
the town and is genial, frank, and liberal. 

NEWSPAPERS OF TULARE CITY. 

There are three newspapers issued in Tulare City. The 
Tulare Register was started by Messrs. Black & Cox, December, 
1882, and transferred to the present management on the 24th 
of February last. Its career has been one of uninterrupted 
progress from its very inception. It is now published by 
Messrs. Shanklin & Pillsbury. Each issue contains some im¬ 
portant information about the county. We have used in this 
work valuable matter taken from their columns which are 
always replete with local news. 

The Alliance Messenger is issued weekly, and is owned by 
a joint-stock company, and is devoted to morality, temperance, 
and Christianity. Rev. F. H. Wales is the managing editor, 


and has contributed much to the success and popularity of the 
enterprise. The Tulare County Christian and Temperance 
Alliance, composed of various church and temperance organi¬ 
zations, contribute to its maintenance. The Alliance Messen¬ 
ger is published every Thursday evening by the Alliance Mes¬ 
senger Publishing Co., under the auspices of the following 
Board of Directors: F. H. Wales, President, Tulare; J. M. 
Moore, Secretary, Hanford; John Reed, Treasurer, Hanford; 
S. Fowler, Tulare; J. B. Zumwalt, Tulare; A. W. DeWitt, 
Tulare. 

The Tulare Telegraph was started by J. A. Studabecker, 
in 1882. It was issued as a daily. It has changed hands once 
or twice but is now still under the first managment. 

D. W. Madden, a view of whose hotel and water-works 
appear in this work, is a native of Pennsylvania, having been 
born in Montour County, in 1825. In 1844 he left Pennsyl¬ 
vania, with but 818.00 in his pocket, and walked to Michigan, 
then known as the far West. Here he remained about a year, 
and then went on to Illinois, where he taught school for two 
years. 

In 1852 he left for California, coming overland, making the 
trip in six months, and took up his residence in Sacramento, 
where he followed stage driving, and was afterwards agent for 
the stage company of Sacramento. He remained there till 
1860, when he went to Placer County, and kept hotel for 
twelve years. He then moved to Hollister, San Benito County, 
remaining there two years, and in 1875 he removed to Tulare 
County and engaged in farming and sheep-raising. In 1876 he 
took up his residence in Tulare City, where he has since resided. 
In 1877 he bought the hotel which he now occupies, and has 
made large additions thereto. 

It is always instructive to read of the trials as well as suc¬ 
cesses and failures of other people. He came to this county, 
and was in the employ of Sisson, Wallace & Co., in charge of 
lumber-yard. He afterwards took charge of the Lake House, 
which burned soon after. Mr. Madden is one of the best citi¬ 
zens of Tulare, active and energetic. 

He was married to Miss Nancy E. Carnhan, a native of 
Pennsylvania, in December, 1859. They have one boy and 
three girls, Lillia E., Maggie E., Mary M., and Washington D. 
Madden. 

TULARE LODGE, NO. 68, K. OF P. 

This order has for its object to disseminate principles of 
friendship, charity, and benevolence. It was organized at 
Tulare City, February 11, 1882. Its greatest membership is 
sixty-five. 

The following is the names of officers for July, 1883: D. S. 
Woodruff, C. C.; G. Q. Gill, Y. C.; John Farrar Sen., Prelate; 
L. A. Pratt, M. A.; Geo. Buckland. K. of R. and S.; D. Mc¬ 
Donald, M. of E.; T. Rudolph, I. G.; and J. Richardson, O. 










166 


DESCRIPTIONS OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS. 

This is a society known as Tehachepi Division, No. 125, whose 
objects and aims are to elevate men who are in the profession 
of locomotive engines and to aid and assist widows and 
orphans of deceased members. The order originated at 
Detroit, Michigan, in 1863, as brotherhood of the Foot Board 
and this order was organized August 17, 1864, as B. of L. E. 

The first officers of Tulare Division were A. D. Neff, C. E.; 
D. T. Bolger, F. E.; C. E. Wickstrom, S. E.; D. C. Horton, 
F. A. E.; Marion Patchen, S. A. E.; W. R. Hatfield, Guide; and 
Joseph Paine, Chaplain. The greatest number of members at 
any time was twenty-eight. About 81,800 have been distrib¬ 
uted in charities and benefits. 

The present officers are: J. L. Bachelder, C. E.; E. J. Ed¬ 
wards, S. E.; W. H. Main, S. A. E.; W. W. Wright, Guide: 
J. C. Richards, F. E.; R. S. Goble, F. A. E.; W. W. Achorn, 
T. A. E.; A. D. Neff, Chaplain. 

The charter members were: Samuel Richardson, A. T. 
Fowler, W. M. Richardson, H. Kelsey, J. Lemprand, F. Heild, 
C. B. Faust, G. A. W. Faust, J. R. Faust, D. McDonald, Jesse 
Richardson, H. G. Rogers, J. Bargion, E. H. Holland, L. A. 
Pratt, John Reid, Caleb Coakle}’, Thos. Helm, T. M. Thomas, 
L. D. Murphy, P. L. Anthony, W. M. Bruce, W. Adams, J. H. 
Faust. 

Olive Branch Lodge, U. D., F. A. M., was organized 
March 9, 1883. Its first or charter members were: L. D. Mur¬ 
phy, J. A. Goble, L. Gilroy, F. T. Berry, Robt. McMillen, R. C. 
Clarke, Thos. Cross, B. W. Jauchius, Wm. Carpenter, F. W. Gor¬ 
ham, Geo. Faust, J. C. Gist, B. M. Alford, J. F. Uhlhorn, T. 
W. Maples. 

The present officers are: L. D. Murphy, Master; J. A. Goble, 
Senior Warden; L. Gilroy, Junior Warden; F. T. Berry, Secre¬ 
tary; J. F. Uhlhorn, Treasurer. The greatest number of mem¬ 
bers at any one time was twenty-seven. Regular stated meet¬ 
ings of this lodge are held on the second Friday of each 
month. 

Tulare Council, No. 89, Order of Chosen Friends, 
meets every Wednesday evening at 9 o’clock. This order was 
instituted July, 1882, with thirty-six charter members, and is 
in good condition. 

Tulare Lodge, No. 78, A. O. U. W., installed new officers 
as follows: C. F. Hall, P. M.; E. T. Bucknam, M. W.; T. A. 
Lewis, Foreman; Jas. Doyle, Overseer; John O’Kief, Guide; 
Mr. Treadwell, Recorder, and J. L. Barnes, Financier. 

Tulare Lodge, No. 195, I. O. G. T., meets every Tues¬ 
day evening at 7 o’clock, P. M., in Masonic Hall. S. West, W. 
C. T., J. H. Morton, W. S. 

Tulare City Lodge of Odd Fellows was instituted 
in May, 1883, by C. H. Murphy, of Visalia. J. S. Barnes 
Noble Grand; F. Rosenthal, Vice Grand; E. M. Wilson, Secre¬ 
tary, and E. Churchill, Treasurer. 


A. T. Cotton, who has one of the best residences in 
Tulare City, and represented among our views, was born in 
Will County, Illinois, in 1849. When but five years of age 
his parents started for the land of gold. Fitting themselves 
out with an ox-team and wagon, in which they placed their 
household treasures, they bid good-bye to old associations, and 
joined a train bound overland. The long and weary trip occu¬ 
pied six months, and just after they reached the line of the 
State, in Lake Valley, the father sickened and died. This 
occurred in the fall of 1854, when the family moved into, and 
settled in Sacramento County. 

The most of young Cotton’s time was spent in Sacramento 
County, until 1871. although he spent some time in El Dorado 
County during 1857 and 1858. Attended school in Alameda 
in 1859-60. Resided in Placerville in 1860-61. Went to 
New York in 1865, and spent one year. In 1871 he moved 
to Tulare County, and engaged in well-boring. In 1873 he 
opened a tin-shop in Tulare City, to which he has since added 
stoves and hardware ami house-furnishing goods, and is doing 
a good business. 

In 1869 he married Miss Josephine Gregory, a native of 
California. They have three children, Willie, Fred, and Daisy 
'Cotton. 

fine residences. 

Tulare City'- is surrounded by many good farm places, and 
on these are well-arranged and comfortable homes, yet even 
the most enthusiastic admirer of Tulare County must admit 
that few of her farm-houses can make any pretensions to 
elegance. There are some very neat ones and many that are 
commodious and comfortable, but few of the old settlers are so 
proud as to make it necessary that their dwellings shall be 
painted in order that they may live happily in them. 

J. B. Zumwalt has the finest country residence in the 
county. This house and immediate surroundings makes the 
largest of our illustrations. The main building is 36x40 feet 
two stories high, with a hip roof and deck. It has eight large 
and airy rooms with lofty ceilings, four of them above and 
four below. The hall-ways are broad and the stairs have a 
very gradual and easy rise. This building is entirely sur¬ 
rounded by double porches, that protect it from the direct rays 
of the sun. Immediately in the rear of the main building 
and connected with it by the porch is an L 20x40 feet, one 
story high, containing a dining-room, kitchen, pantry, and 
bath-room. This building also is entirely surrounded by a broad 
porch. Good porches, and plenty of them, are indispensable 
to comfort anywhere in the interior of California where the 
sun comes down with so much force during the summer. Mr. 
Zumwalt’s porches added 82,000 to the cost of his residence. 
The whole structure bears unmistakable evidence of good 
material, skillful workmanship, and painstaking thoroughness 
in every detail. 










DESCRIPTIONS OE TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


167 


J. B. Zuin wait was born in St. Charles, Missouri, July 11, 
1832. His parents died when he was five years of age, at 
which time he went to live with an uncle in Palmyra, Mis¬ 
souri, who treated him with so much severity that he ran 
away. But the county afterwards appointed a guardian for 
him, who taught him the blacksmith trade, but who was after¬ 
wards killed by lightning. 

Mr. Zumwalt then went to Paris, Missouri, and remained two 
years with Mr. Enoch Wilson, until gold was discovered in 
California, when Dr. H. J. Glenn (recently murdered) of 
Colusa, and others, left Paris for gold mines. It was soon 
reported that they had made fortunes in the mines. Everv- 
bodv else was crazy to go to California. 

He was fitted out by J. C. Fox, a wealthy merchant of 
Paris, which place they left April 9, 1850, in company with 
Henry Davis, Mr. Wilson, and others, with ox-teams. They 
made the trip in about four months. At Carson City he and 
another young man left the train and walked the balance of 
the way, arriving, as miners say, “ dead broke.” He stopped 
first at Hangtown, Placerville, and engaged in blacksmithing, 
and mining. He continued miniug at Gold Hill and other 
places in El Dorado County until 1855. He afterwards 
mined in Shasta County with fair success. He stayed in Shasta 
until 1857, when he took a trip east for six months. 

In 1858 he left the mines and opened a blacksmith shop in 
Red Bluff until 1864, when he removed to Grand Island, 
Colusa County, where he bought land at'l$1.25 per acre. He 
farmed there for fourteen years. He then sold this farm at 
$50.00 per acre and removed to his Tulare farm. He came to 
this county in 1878 and engaged in farming and stock-raising. 

His farm consists of 1,000 acres of rich sandy loam adapted 
to small grain, alfalfa, and fruit. It is located seven miles 
from the county seat, and near school and church. The 
Southei’n Pacific Railroad runs through the farm. 

He has a small orchard, young, but it is doing well and some of 
the trees have made a remarkable growth. “We were shown,” 
says the Register, “ a seedling tree two years old that has a 
trunk three inches in diameter, and a top ten feet square, that 
is full of fruit. Twelve months from the day this tree came 
up through the ground it was in blossom, and bore fruit that 
season. We were also shown some Carolina poplars two 
years old that were grown from cuttings, that now measure 
from twenty to twenty-six inches in circumference.” He keeps 
on the ranch about 80 head of cattle, 150 hogs, and 22 horses. 

He married, in 18G0, Miss Lydia A. De Witt, who was a 
native of Kentuck}'. They have five boys and five girls. 

Mr. Zumwalt is one of the most active citizens of Tulare 
County, and cheerfully aids every enterprise calculated to 
advance the interests of his county. He has been engaged in 
the real estate business, and is familiar with the quality and 
location of the lands of Tulare Countv and surroundings. 

4/ O 


Visalia, the county seat, is situated in an exceedingly fertile 
region, and is the terminus of a branch railroad which connects 
with Central Pacific Railroad at Goshen seven miles away. 

Samuel Allen informs us that when he came to Tulare in 
1854, there was one store in Visalia kept by Nathan Baker; 
one blacksmith shop by a man by the name of Turner; a 
boarding-house by John P. Majors; and one saloon, the keeper’s 
name not remembered. At that time there was no Court 
House or jail. The court was held in a building that was also 
used as a jail. 

At that time there was a corral or pen used as a fort, made of 
timber nine feet long set in the ground. Inside of this there 
were several cabins. The Indians were a little troublesome at 
times so the people had to take to those places occasionally for 
safety. 

He says “at times the few that were there at that time, were 
obliged to live for weeks on grain ground in hand-mills or large 
coffee mills, using it without bolting. 

“About 1854, two grist mills were erected, one by Phil. Wagy, 
and another by Dr. Mathews & Bros. At this time it would 
have been utterly impossible to have builta railroad where itnow 
runs. The canal dug from Tulare Lake to Fresno Slough has 
lowered the lake so that it has receded as much as ten and 
fifteen miles and made good farming land, where at that date 
the fish were swimming.” 

As early as 1860, Visalia was quite a village, and during 
’63 and ’64 United States troops were stationed there. During 
the latter part of the war the place became quite important both 
as a military station and as a freighting point from Stockton. 
It is situated in the northern part of the county, in a heavily 
timbered section. The country surrounding is very level, and 
all the clear lan 1 is devoted to farming, pasture, etc. A con¬ 
siderable portion of the country to the east is swampy, but 
can be successfully drained, and consists of some of the best 
land in the county. 

BUSINESS PLACES OF VISALIA. 

Visalia has gas and water-works which supply the people 
with gas for illumination and water for irrigation and domes- 
tic purposes. Visalia has three hotels, three restaurants, nine 
stores, five variety and boot stores, two saddle and harness 
shops, six blacksmith and wagon shops, five livery and feed 
stables, two jewelers, three barber shops, three vegetable and 
produce stores, two tin and stove stores, one furniture store, 
ten attorneys, nine physicians and about two' dozen saloons. 

There are five church edifices and seven organizations. A 
lodge of Masons, Odd Fellows, Good Templars, and a literary 
club. There is a good normal school in Visalia. The Masonic 
and Odd Fellow’s Hall building cost $20,000. The Good 
Templar’s Hall $6,000. There is one general banking-house, 
and a Government Land Office here, and the county Court 
House and jail, with many substantial residences. 







168 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


The place is well laid out, but poorly built; the buildings 
generally, especially in the business portion of town, are low and 
uncomely structures; yet there are some pretty private resi¬ 
dences and good business houses recently put up. 

A fine Court House has been erected at a cost of $75,000. 
It is a splendid structure, a pride to the county and an orna¬ 
ment to the town, and is fully described elsewhere. 

The Bank of Visalia has a paid up capital of $200,000 and 
does a large business; R. E. Hyde, President, and J. J. Mack, 
Cashier. It was organized about 1875, and has been under 
the same judicious management as at present since starting. 
The building they do business in is a handsome brick, on Main 
Btreetj and is 70 feet by 20. The Tulare Flouring Mill runs 
three burrs and makes fifty barrels of flour and grinds forty 
tons of feed in twelve hours—runs by water or steam. The 
flour has a wide reputation. 

This city has a large, good public school building, occupied 
by six teachers. The Visalia Normal School was organized in 
1880. The first year it numbered 61 pupils, the second 99, the 
third 104. The aim of the institution is to qualify students for 
the practical duties of life, as well as for the teacher’s profes¬ 
sion. 

By a branch railroad to Goshen, regular connection is made 
with the trains running north and south on the San Joaquin 
Valley Railroad. Mr. R. E. Hyde, one of Visalia’s live men, 
formerly a merchant, is President of this railroad. 

The city is supplied with gas and water. The water-works 
were erected by Messrs. Fox &; Wild, as builders. The dimen¬ 
sions of the building are: At the base twenty-six feet square, 
and at the top where the tank rests, it is twenty-two. The 
tank holds about 30,000 gallons, and is kept full of water by 
means of a steam engine of twenty horse-power. 

Stevens & Co., have a store which is a very large institu¬ 
tion, carrying everything in the dry goods, grocery, crockery, 
and clothing line, with boots and shoes, hats and caps, farm¬ 
ing and mining implements. They are sole agents for the 
Schuttler & Fish Bros, wagons. It is a credit to any city to 
have so fine a store building and so large a stock of goods to 
select from. 

The site of Visalia is in the midst of a broad and fertile plain, 
with Tulare Lake twenty miles to the westward, and the foot¬ 
hills of the Sierra as many to the eastward, the entire valley 
at this point being about seventy miles in width. The section 
was formerly known as “Four Creek Country," which from its 
beauty and fertility attracted a large population at an early 
day, and long before the advent of the iron horse. The San 
Joaquin Valley branch of the Central Pacific Railroad lies 
westward of the town about seven miles distant, and a branch 
runs to Visalia, thus giving direct railroad communication. 
Stages connect it with the surrounding towns. 


Mill Creek, a rapid stream part of the year, runs through 
the town. Groves of evergreen and deciduous oaks cover the 
plains, giving a pleasant feature to the scenery. A few miles 
south the oaks give way, and the wild open prairie stretches 
for miles around. 

Visalia is an incorporated city. S. C. Brown is Mayor, and 
G. A. Botsford, Clerk; E. J. Fudge, Marshall; J. T. Brown, 
Assessor; W. W. Conghran, Treasurer; W. B. Wallace, Re¬ 
corder; W. F. Thomas, Superintendent of Schools. 

NEWSPAPERS OF VISALIA. 

The Tulare Weekly Times was established in 1864, and has 
been issued regularly ever since. In 1876 the Daily Times 
was started by Matlick & Blitz, but was discontinued after a 
while. It was again issued in August, 1882. 

The Weekly Times is now published by R. F. Eagle as 
editor and proprietor, who has lately come into possession of 
the office. He is now making the paper better than under any 
previous management. 

The Weekly Visalia Delta is in its 26th volume and issued 
by F. J. Walker & Co. It is doing much to interest people in 
the resources and capabilities of Tulare County. It gives close 
attention to local county matters, and therefore furnishes a 
paper indispensable to those interested in local affairs. 

The Journal is also published here. It was started in Han¬ 
ford, as related elsewhere, and moved to Visalia. 

Hanford is the third town in size in the county, and only a 
few years old. It is situated in the center of the Mussel 
Slough country, more particularly described elsewhere. It is 
fourteen miles from Goshen, on the branch railroad designed to 
connect with the railroad at Hollister. It is one of the most 
thrifty towns in this section of the San Joaquin Valley. It is 
surrounded by one of the finest and most productive agricult¬ 
ural neighborhoods in the State. It contains about six hun¬ 
dred population. It is well supplied with schools, and has 
four churches; Cumberland Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, 
Catholic, and Episcopal, a good flour-mill, city water-works, 
ten stores including general merchandise, hardware and furni¬ 
ture, two drug stores, four hotels and boai’ding-houses, six 
grain warehouses with a storage capacity of over 10,000 tons 
livery stables, saloons, and miscellaneous shops and stalls. 

THE WATER-WORKS. 

One of the most important general improvements is the 
Hanford Water-Works. Messrs. Robinson & Rawlins, among 
Hanford’s most enterprising citizens, had this institution com¬ 
pleted in first-class style in evei'y respect, at an entire cost of 
at least $10,000 besides pipe. 

The mains and the smaller iron pipes are conveyed to every 
part of town, and there are many large and small hydrants 
conveniently distributed and furnished with sufficient hose to 
be a very great protection to the town in case of fires. The 








DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


169 


handsome and well-utilized structure of their tank house is 
sixty-five feet in height to the top of the roof over the tank, 
and sixty feet to the top of the tank itself. Such is the press¬ 
ure from this height that the hose, distributed throughout the 
town, throws water to a height of thirty-five feet, and hence 
would reach the third story of buildings. 

A good view of Hanford and the surrounding country is 
obtained from a neat balcon}’’ around the fourth story of the 
tank house, at a height of forty-five feet. The snowy Sierra 
and the Coast Range make a fine background east and west, 
and the well tilled, well irrigated fields and numerous ranches 
in every direction, show plainly in this picturesque view why 


The Cumberland Presbyterian chui'ch is a frame building, 
in half Gothic style, well finished and painted inside 
and out. The ground plan is 50x36 feet. Its height from 
ground to comb of roof is thirty-six feet, to top of the belfry 
about fifty feet. It has a clear sounding 600-pound bell. 
This really handsome building, an ornament to any town, was 
erected at a cost of S3,500, which is Si,500, less than a con¬ 
tractor would have built it for. The entire membership is 
about 100, scattered over a territory ten miles square. The 
Rev. Warren Compton was the first pastor from 1876 to 1879. 

The Catholic and Episcopal Churches have flourishing socie¬ 
ties and churches. There are also numerous secret and benev- 



The Sierras as seen from Hanford, Tulare County; 120 Miles in Three Sections. 

1. Mt. Lyell. 2. Mt. Ritter. 3. Mt. Goddard. 4. Mt. Silliman. 5. Mt. Gardiner. 6. Mt. Brewer. 7. Mt. Tyndall. 8. Mt. Williamson. 9. Hazen. 
10. Mt. Michaelis. 11. Milestone Mountain. 12. Mt. Langley. 13. Location of Mt. Whitney. 14. Mt. Albert. 15. Mt. Henry. Id. Mt. Le Conte. 
17. Mt. Kaweah. 18. Empire Mountain. 19. Miner’s Peak. 20. Mt. Garfield. 21. Bullion Peak. 


So many residents and visitors of the Mussel Slough country 
think it is truly one of the finest garden spots in California. 
Our artist has sketched the Sierras as they appear from Han¬ 
ford for a length of 120 miles, and we have had it engraved. 

The Methodist Episcopal church was dedicated at Hanford, 
in July, 1881. It is a tastefully furnished building and has a 
bell with a very clear tone. The ministers who officiated at 
the dedication were the Pastor, Rev. J. R. Gregory; Rev. A. 
Bland, Presiding Elder; Rev. J. B. Calloway, pastor at Grange- 
ville; Rev. John McKelvv, from Bakersfield; and Prof. F. D. 
Bovard, of the University of Southern California. The latter 
preached the dedicatory sermon. 


olent societies, all of which ai’e in a very flourishing condition- 

« 

I. O. O. F. Lodge, No. 264, was instituted in Aug., 1877, by 
B. Baer, D. D. G. M., assisted by Past Grands T. Lindsey, J. 
B. O’Connor, A. Weishar, J. M. Graves, G. Herring, N. G., 
and A. F. Switzer, V. G., of Four Creeks Lodge, with a 
charter membership of ten, all well-known citizens of this 
county. The officers installed were: J. C. Goar, N. G.; J. N. 
Camp, V. G.; A. B. Crowell, Sec.; D. B. Thinker, Treas. 

McPherson Post, No. 51, has thirty members, and is in a 
flourishing condition. The following are the officers: Post 
Commander, H. F. Peacock; Vice-Commander, C. M. Bryant; 
Officer of the Guard, Albert Hayes. 





















170 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


ANNUAL COMMEMORATION. 

The 11th of May is now observed here as an annual com¬ 
memoration of the fatal Mussel Slough tragedy. The pro¬ 
cession of May, 1883, after marching to the cemetery at 
Grangeville, and performing the melancholy task of decorating 
the graves of those whose bodies rest there, who lost their lives 
on that memorable day, re-formed in a line half a mile in 
length, and marched to the Hanford Cemetery, where they 
performed the same sad duty. Thence they proceeded to the 
Hanford Park, where the exercises of the day commenced by 
the election of Rev. N. W. Motheral, President of the day, and 
J. W. Harris, Marshal. The President, with a few appropri¬ 
ate remarks, introduced the orator of the day, P. S. Dorney, 
of Sacramento. 

The Hanford Journal was started in this place, but after¬ 
wards removed to Visalia, where it is now published success¬ 
fully. It was issued by Milton McWorter, July, 1881. 

George Thyarks erected a fine brick building, which is 
leased to occupants. It is one of the neat and substantial 
business buildings of the place. 

The Freeman House was opened in 1877 by H. H. Freeman. 
It is favorably situated for entertaining a large number of 
guests. 

R. Mills has a place of resort that has few superiors on the 
coast. This saloon is fitted up in an elegant manner, as will 
be seen by the engraving on another page, of the interior of 
this fashionable resort. Mr. Mills has made a successful etfort 
to have his place inviting and attractive, as well as orderly. 
The walls are ornamented with fine views and paintings. The 
counters and fixtures are of the most finished style, and the 
bar has every accessory of a first-class saloon. 

A LARGE MERCANTILE FIRM. 

Simon,.Jacobs & Co. are an old and reliable firm. These 
gentlemen have been engaged in merchandising for the last 
thirty years, and can boast of constituting one of the oldest 
firms in lower or southern California. The partners are: 
Samuel Simon, of San Francisco; James Manasse; and 
Nathan Weisbaum, the latter two of Hanford, Tulare County, 
California. 

This firm commenced business in Hanford in the spring of 
1877, being the first parties who had the courage to open a 
store in the place. Their establishment is justly named “The 
Pioneer Store,” under which name it is known throughout the 
Mussel Slough District. At first they transacted business in 
a one-story frame building, with Mr. Manasse as manager, he 
also being at that time (1877) appointed Postmaster of the 
United States Post-office, which then was opened for the first 
time in their store. 

As a flourishing business always indicates prosperity of the 
surrounding country, we may safely congratulate the people of 


Hanford and Tulare County of theirs; for during the four 
years, from 1877 to 1881, the business of the firm had 
increased in such a' manner that it was obliged to build the 
fine brick store, 80x30 feet, represented in our illustrations. 
They also erected a warehouse in the rear of this store 50x30 
feet. They conduct the agency of Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Express. 

Besides their general merchandise establishment, Messrs. S., 
J. &j Co. own a grain wai’ehouse, which is 100 feet long and 
fifty feet wide. 

The handsome residence of James Manasse is among the 
views of Hanford represented in our history. 

J. H. Melone deals in dry goods and general merchandise as 
well as groceries. This is a comparatively new house, but they 
carry a lai'ge stock, and by fair dealing are securing an 
increasing trade, and their business is constantly improving. 

J. T. Baker has one of the most complete drug stores in 
this section. He keeps an extensive assortment of drugs and 
medicines, chemicals, paints, oils, and varnishes, glass, putty, 
etc., pure wines and liquors for medical use, and dye woods 
and dye stuffs generally. 

Brown k Irwin, attorneys-at-law, and notaries public, 

are located in Hanford, and have an office one door west of 

0 

Fish & Blum’s, on Main Street. They practice in all the courts 
of the State. 

W. A. Simmons’ drug store is on Main Street, Hanford, 
in Mrs. Hager’s building. They keep constantly on hand pure 
drugs and medicines, toilet articles, and fancy goods. Physi¬ 
cians’ prescriptions are a specialty, and everything scientifi¬ 
cally and carefully compounded at all hours, day and night. 

Chas. Sharp k Co. deal very largely in farming machin¬ 
ery and sewing machines, etc. It is the only firm south of 
Stockton that makes a specialty of machinery, so that it is to 
the advantage of farmers to buy from them. They have 
erected a very fine store, where they keep a stock of machines. 
They started here about three years ago, having arrived from 
Chicago. 

Lemoore Village is situated on the Southern Pacific Railroad 
proper, and when the road is completed according to original 
intention, will be many miles nearer San Francisco than by the 
present route. It is situated west of Visalia thirty-two miles, 
south of Fresno City thirty-eight miles, west of Hanford eight 
and one-half miles, east of King’s River four miles, and north 
of Tulare Lake about ten miles. The number of inhabitants 
is about 500. Well supplied with business houses of various 
kinds, that are apparently doing a safe, healthy business. 

It has one of the largest store buildings in the State outside 
Of San Francisco, being 35x150 feet, completely finished and 
furnished. It also has a large flouring-mill; capacity, 200 
barrels in twenty-four hours; also a fine school second to but 
one in the county. 












DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


171 


The Lower King’s River Ditch skirts the town, and.is the 
pioneer ditch of the Mussel Slough country. It was here the 
early settlers showed their courage, and endured extreme pri¬ 
vations. They are now rewarded by seeing the most marvel¬ 
ously productive country in the world, when properly 
cultivated, which surrounds this town on all sides. 

This is especially the home of alfalfa and fruits of various 
description. It is claimed that the raisin grape has a larger 
per cent, of saccharine matter in them here than any other 
part of the State. 

Stock-raising is attracting much attention of which there are 
many fine specimens, both of horses and cattle as well as sheep 
and hogs. The immense quantity of feed produced per acre 
makes the amount of stock, capable of being sustained, fabu¬ 
lous. 

The town is rather literary in its tendency, having a liter¬ 
ary societ}' that dates from a very early period of its existence, 
and has shown considerable ability in that direction; has also 
a large amount of musical talent, sustaining a brass band as well 
as t>\o or three string bands. Many of the performers would 
not disgrace places of more pretentions. The general society is 
fully up to the standard of older settled countries. The town 
is keeping only a healthy growth with its surroundings. It 
received a set back one year ago by a fire that it has not wholly 
recovered from, but better improvements are taking place of 
the old. 

The first town lots were sold in Lemoore in February, 1877, 
at auction. The following gives some idea of the price of lots 
as well as purchasers: Lot 17, J. J. Mack, $665; lot 21, L. 
Gilroy, $110; A. B. Cowell, $110; J. R. Heinlin, $75; D. 
Rhodes, $105; E. Elanger, $125; H. Hess, $120, etc. 

In 1881 a paper was started called the Lemoore Advertiser , 
and afterw r ards appeared under the title of Real Estate Adver¬ 
tiser and Medical Advertiser, and it was conducted as an adver¬ 
tising medium for the City Drug Store, and for the real estate 
agency of Lovelace & Lamberson. We believe it is not now 
issued. 

Messrs. Fox & Sweetland are the principal merchants, and 
deal in general groceries, fruits, candies, nuts, etc. They pay 
cash for poultry, eggs, hides, etc. They are located in Ham¬ 
lin’s Block, and are engaged in a constantly increasing busi¬ 
ness, caused by integrity in their deal with all customers. 

Plano is near the foot-hills on the stage road leading through 
Farmersville and Porterville, and is thirty-two miles south of 
Visalia, on the south side of Tule River, two miles from Porter¬ 
ville. There are about 120 inhabitants. There is one hotel, 
one blacksmith shop, two churches (Presbyterian and Meth¬ 
odist), and two houses doing a general merchandising business. 

Wm. Thomson’s hotel or boarding-house is represented 
among our view's of Plano, as also the Presbyterian church 
situated on the opposite side of the street, which Mr. Thomson 


has done so much financially and otherwise to sustain. He 
keeps dry goods and groceries, and has a stage line running 
from Plano to Tulare. 

Russell Bros.’ store was established in Plano in 1881, and is 
receiving a fair share of trade from the surrounding country, 
secured by fair and honorable dealing. This building is repre¬ 
sented among our illustrations of Plano. 

George H. and John H. Russell w 7 ere born in the city of 
Fremont, Ohio, in 1848 and 1850. George learned the ship 
carpenter’s trade and worked at it for about three years 
and then went to sea for seven years. He left Upper 
Sandusky, Ohio, for California by railroad and reached Plano, 
June, 1875, and engaged in carpentering. John H. Russell 
came at an earlier date, about 1871. Geo. H. returned to 
Ohio after about one year and engaged in photography, but 
returned to Plano after tw 7 o years. 

The two brothers then opened their store in Plano and 
engaged in general merchandising. They carry a good stock 
of dry goods, furnishing goods, groceries, crockery, etc. A view 7 
of their neat little store is given in our views of Plano. 

Geo. H. Russell married Miss Pametia Sowels in 1880, who 
was a native of California. They have tw 7 o children, named 
Ralph James and George Earle Russell. The farm is small, 
only five acres, devoted to hay and fruit. There are 125 
miscellaneous fruit trees doing well. 

A Presbyterian Church w r as established in 1869, and a church 
building erected. There are but four or five members and no 
minister. The building is wood, well finished outside and in, 
with a belfry, bell, and observatory; the whole was erected at 
a cost of $3,500, the heaviest part of which rests still on the 
Elder, Mr. Wm. Thomson, who gives us the following remi¬ 
niscences of the country and of church history:— 

Wm. Thomson, of Plano, says he came to Visalia, California, 
the 29th of June, 1867, found the citizens clever and neighborly, 
but very different to his old Ohio neighbors. He lived there 
through the summer and came to Tule River in the fall, about 
the 1st of October. 

The post-office w r as called Tule, and was on the south side of 
the river near where the bridge now 7 stands, and Geo. McKeloy 
was Postmaster. 

George and C. McKeloy laid out a town at that point and 
called it Vandalia. The McKeloys were rather inclined to be 
sickly and the location w 7 as declared to be unhealthy. 

Where Porterville now stands R. P. Putnam had a store, 
and there was a hotel, or stopping-place, and a blacksmith shop. 
They tried hard to make a town there but had no post-office, 
and were obliged to go to Vandalia for their mail matter. 
They tried to get a post-office but failed; the McKeloys became 
very sickly, especially George, the Postmaster. The Porter¬ 
ville folks worked upon him and persuaded him that he had 
better move to that place, as it was a growing place. So over 







172 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 




he went and took the post-office with him. He died shortly and 
left the post-office in Porterville. That left the south side with¬ 
out any post-office; the river at that time in the winter was 
almost impassable from quicksand, and no bridge was then built. 
A petition being gotten up setting forth the facts, a post-office 
was granted and named Plano. A. J. Adams was appointed 
Postmaster. He lived south of Tule River on the edge of the 
plain where the settlement now is, called Plano. 

On the morning of December 25, 1867, the water came 
roaring down old Tule, sweeping away fences and bringing a 
tremendous amount of flood wood from the mountains, which 
was split up and used for fencing, fire-wood, etc. 

During that winter the Indian agent brought from Inyo 
County several hundred Indians, called Manachees. The 
measles got among them, and they not being acquainted with 
the disease, practiced jumping into cold water, which invariably 
killed them. This Indian “cure all” is illustrated on page 92. 
Those who escaped death went back to their old home in Inyo 
County. 

After the McKeloys left Vandalia, the Methodists having a 
church building there concluded the place was too sickly for 
that also and it would have to be moved. The Porterville 
folks were anxious to have it located there. The minister, 
Rev. Burton, then in charge, decided to get up two subscrip¬ 
tion papers, one for Porterville and the other for the south side, 
where Plano now stands, circulating them himself, keeping his 
own secrets and seeing which side would give the most. When 
through he decided the church would go where the church 
members were, that is where Plano is now situated. 

In 1870 the M. E. Church was moved over to Plano, where 
it now stands. The school house at Plano is one of the best in 
the county having at the present over ninety scholars. 

In 1879 Rev. Hiram Hill, a Presbyteriau preacher living in 
Visalia and preaching there, also in Porterville and Plano, con¬ 
cluded that it was best to organize a Presbyterian Church in 
Porterville. “To this,” says Mr. Thomson, “I made no objec¬ 
tion, but said if you have encouragement sufficient, let the 
First Presbyterian Church building on Tule River be at Porter¬ 
ville. 

“The church was organized, the Gibbons’ near Plano taking 
an active part in the building of a church building at Porter¬ 
ville. I had been liberal in the support of the present minis¬ 
ters and thought I should have some chance for church privi¬ 
leges at my home, Plano. So I asked Mr. Oviatt, the minister 
that was carrying forward the work at Porterville, if he 
thought best for us to make a move in that direction. He said 
yes; that would make two preaching places, and more money 
could be got from the Board of Home Missions for the support 
of a preacher. So I secured a lot and went forward to secure 
what money I could. Mr. Oviatt got an ai’chitect to draw 
a plan for the building and told me to go on with it, while he 


was doing all he could for Porterville. I went forward and 
raised some money, got some from Ohio. Mr. Oviatt said we 
could get help from the Board of Church Erection at New T ork, 
so he asked for $700 for Porterville and $350 for Plano. It 
was so managed as to get $600 cash from the New York 
board to use in Porterville, where there are no church members, 
but failed to get $1.00 for Plano church. 

“After the Plano building was finished I settled with the 
trustees and found I had paid out about $2,000 over what had 
been donated. They gave me notes for the amount. I am 
now asked and expected to donate the whole amount in order 
that this nice little building may belong to the Presbyterian 
Church, no effort being made by any one to raise a dollar for 
my relief, so I must assume this debt or have my friends say, 
We gave you our money on a Presbyterian Church and you 
failed to accomplish what you proposed. So I stand charged 
with the blame or entitled to the credit of putting $2,000 in a 
Presbyterian Church in Tulare County.” 

Wm. Thomson was bom in Green County, Ohio, Septem¬ 
ber 27, 1825. He came to California, June 12, 1867, by the 
Isthmus route. He was in the employ of the United States 
Government on the Tule Indian Reservation from 1871 to 1873, 
under Chas. Malthy, agent. He afterwards located in Plano, as 
related. 

He married Miss Ploomey Jane Tilton, in 1854, a native of 
New York, but later of Ohio. They have seven children, 
named Alex. John, Tannie Eliza (now Mrs. O. E. Gibbons), 
WillisMerriman, Mary Eveline, James Steward, David Edward, 
and Sarah Jane Hayes Thomson. 

THE TULE INDIAN RESERVATION. 

In 1871 Mr. Thomson went to work for the Government on 
the Indian Reservation four miles above Porterville. The agent 
at that time was Chas. Maltby. “I worked there for eighteen 
months. While there I learned a 1 ittle Spanish, as some of 
the Indians talk Spanish. Some of them are quite industrious, 
others are drunken and very trifling. Soon after I quit the 
reservation they moved the Indians sixteen miles above Plano 
on the south fork of Tule River.” 

C. G. Bellknap was made agent and still holds the place. 
Near where the reservation now stands there is what they call 
the “painted rock” with all manner of curious looking creatures 
painted that have perhaps been there for thousands of years. 

After leaving the reservation and the employ of the Govern¬ 
ment, Mr. Thomson clerked in Porterville for N. Baker & Son, 
for eight months. At that time, 1872 and 1873, the Bakers were 
doing a thriving business, and so was R. P. Putnam. In the 
fall of 1873 he was appointed Postmaster at Plano, and started 
a little store, calling it the “Ohio Store ” after his native State. 

HOT SPRINGS. 

The Hot Springs are situated on the north side of Deer- 
Creek about twenty-five miles from Plano. They are used at 











































































































































































DESCRIPTION OP TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


173 


present by camping parties, no improvements having been 
made. They are open to the public, a location has been made 
but not complied with. About half a mile below the bathing 
spring, which is just medium, the water bursts out of the rocks, 
and is very hot. It continues to gush out of the rocks for 
about half a mile. These springs are very valuable. 

Deming Gibbons, of Plano, was born in Franklin, 
county of Delaware, State of New York, on the 20th day of 
June, 1822. His parents, Timothy Wells and Ruby S. Gib¬ 
bons, emigrated from Granville, Massachusetts, and settled on 
a small farm. They raised ten children, seven sons and three 
daughters, Deming being next to the oldest, a sister being 
older. His father’s health failing, Deming’s opportunities for 
education were quite limited. He worked on the farm at 
home until his twenty-third year. 

In the spring of 1845 he went West, bought Government 
land in Lake County, Illinois, and commenced farmino- for 
himself a part of the time, and working for wages the rest of 
the time. September 13, 1848, he had his leg broken in the 
horse-power of a thresher—-a compound fracture, breaking 
the large bone twice, the small bone once, and smashing the 
ankle joint, and tearing the cords and flesh off except the heel 
cord and the flesh around it. It was not properly attended to 
by the pretended surgeon, and after three months of suffering, 
he went to Dr. Daniel Brainard, President Chicago Medical 
College. There were seven running sores near the ankle at 
the time. The doctor cut it open, removed the loose pieces of 
bone that should have been taken out in the first place; it took 
about a year to heal, ossify, and be so that he could walk on it. 
This left him $500 in debt. 

November 16, 1848, he married Amanda Hawthorn, dauarh- 
ter of David and Mary Hawthorn, a native of Mercer County, 
Pennsylvania. Gold excitement of California made money 
scarce and rates of interest very high. Short crops and the 
low price of grain made it hard struggling with such a debt. 
Finally in 1854 he sold out, and with wife and two children 
moved overland to Texas via Missouri and Indian Territory. 
Arrived in Fannin County late in the fall, and engaged in 
farming and stock-raising on a small scale. 

He lived there until the spring of 1861, an avowed anti¬ 
slavery man, openly and above board (as remarked by the 
ex-Sheriff of Fannin County), and a regular subscriber to the 
New York Tribune all this time. On the breaking out of 
the Rebellion, he traded the farm at a great sacrifice, and on 
the 3d of May, started overland for California. A. M. Goss 
was elected captain and Dr. McKinny wagon-master. When 
at Eagle Springs, near Rio Grande River, were overtaken by 
a detachment of Confederate soldiers on their way to El Paso 
and Fort Bliss to capture Uncle Sam’s provisions that were 
stored there. At Eagle Springs the oxen of the train stam¬ 
peded in search of water, and it required two days to gather 


them up. The Confederates stole one ox belonging to Mr. 
Gibbons. News was circulated in camp that they would be 
prevented from leaving the State and their property confis¬ 
cated if they did not get out on or before the 5th day of July. 
The 5th day of July came, and the train was still in Texas, 
but intending to cross the Rio Grande before night. 

In the morning scouts went up and down the river in search 
of the ford. Those from down the river soon returned, saying 
that they found the ford guarded by a company of Confeder¬ 
ates. The train started up the river in search of a shallow 
place in the river, which was soon found, and, forcing loose 
stock through the river, they soon succeeded in settling the 
quicksand so that they all crossed safely, the water running 
into some of the wagons and wetting some provisions and 
clothing. The train sent a delegation to the commander of 
the Confederates at Fort Bliss to know if they could pass 
with their property. They were told that they were safe in 
Mexico, and they had better stay there. 

A route was taken through Mexico by way of Carisal, 
Coralitos, Santa Cruz, Tubac, and Tucson. July and'August 
being the rainy season in that part of Mexico, plenty of water 
and grass was found in Mexico. There was a great deal of 
sickness in the train and about forty deaths, the train number¬ 
ing about 300, but Mr. Gibbons’ family had no sickness, one 
daughter being born in Mexico, who is still living. They suf¬ 
fered from heat on the deserts of the Gila, and the stock from 
heat and want of grass. 

Mr. Gibbons arrived at El Monte, in October, without money, 
but sold a horse for $125. He arrived on Tule River the 27th 
of November, 1861, and rented a few acres of land the first 
and second years. He settled on the land now owned, by pre¬ 
emption, the next year changed it to homestead, and planted 
an orchard and vineyard, the second and third years, and 
engaged in raising cattle and horses. The dry year of 1864 
some cattle starved and several horses died. 

There being no school house on the Tule that was worthy 
the name of well-established school, he took a prominent part 
iu building a school house and sustaining a school, and when a 
post-office was established, suggested Plano as the name. He 
took an active part in forming the incorporation of a cemetery 
association under the name of the Vandalia Cemetery Associa¬ 
tion. In fact any enterprise for the improvement of the 
neighborhood received his aid to the best of his abilities. 

Mrs. Gibbons proposed, in 1863, the planting o i the seeds of 
a very fine orange as an experiment as an ornamental tree if 
it should prove too frosty for the fruit. Accordingly a place 
near the house was prepared with much care, and three trees 
planted, Mrs. Gibbons covering them frosty nights, until learn¬ 
ing, two or three years after planting, that oranges were suc¬ 
cessfully raised north of here, the trees were left uncovered 
in frost as well as sunshine, and in eight years two very fine 
well-flavored oranges were produced, the seeds of which were 












174 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


planted, and Mr. Gibbons now has seventy-four orange trees 
planted out for the purpose of raising oranges, seventeen of 
which are bearing. He planted a number of lemon and lime 
trees but the frost was too hard for them, killing trees one 
and a half inches in diameter. The experiment of sending to 
Los Angeles for trees has been tried twice without success, the 
frost killing them, while seedling trees raised on the spot were 
uninjured. In 1881 he took the first premium for seedling 
oranges at the Los Angeles Citrus Fair in March, a large num- 
ber being on exhibition. 

The orange trees are not shown in the picture of Mr. Gib¬ 
bons’ place, to which attention is called, being on east or left 
except two large trees in front of the house. His farm con¬ 
sists of 120 acres of plain, 40 of hog-wallows, and 40 of allu¬ 
vial land; 130 acres are sown in wheat and barley, 15 in 
alfalfa. The fruit trees are apple, 83; peach, 130; apricot, 21; 
pear, 16; plum, 14; almond, 12; fig, 13; quince, 4; pomegran¬ 
ate, 4; walnut, 4; nectarine, 2. The farm is situated one- 
fourth of a mile from Plano, where there is a public school 
and two churches. The number of cattle kept by him is 8; 
hogs, 9; sheep, 120; horses, 3; mules, 2. 

The number of children living are: sons three and daugh¬ 
ters five. Names of children, Ossian E., Ruby A., Cornelia H., 
Amanda S. are married, and living on Tule River. Cornelius 
H„ unmarried, and on the road to Montana with a band of 
sheep. Family at home are Rosetta L. and Rosanna L-, twins, 
eighteen years old, and Ulyssus Schuyler, fourteen years old. 
Mrs. Gibbons died April 1, 1880, being in her fiftieth year. 

Grangeville is ten miles north of Tulare Lake, in the Mus¬ 
sel Slough counti’y. This is the garden spot of California. 
The soil is a black, sand)’- loam. The country is a level plain, 
with forests of excellent oak timber along the water courses. 
In places the forests are thick, with trees lofty and symmetrical, 
while again for miles there are but scattering giant trees with 
tops a hundred feet in diameter. But most of this country is 
a level, treeless plain, generally cultivated, but without fence 
or other obstacle to a carriage drive. 

As early as 1874 it had three water ditches from King’s 
River. It was at one time a place of more importance than 
now. Its prospects were injured by the location of the rail¬ 
road near by and also by having no adequate facilities for reap¬ 
ing it at the nearest point, until lately a switch has been con¬ 
structed. In 1873, the Grangers built a large school house and 
hall combined. It has now two stores, two harness shops, two 
saloons, and a blacksmith shop. 

The M E. Church was erected at a later date. There is a 
flourishing lodge of Good Templars with the following officers: 
W. C. T., Lincoln Burrell; W. V. T., Ella Robinson; W. F. S., 
Sarah Ayers; W. R. S., Ollie Blakely. 

There is a steam flouring-miil here, the boiler of which was 
formerly used in the lumber regions of this country. 


Goshen is a station on the S. P. R. R., 241 miles from 
San Francisco, at the junction of the Visalia road and also the 
Goshen branch extending to Huron, forty miles through the 
Mussel Slough country. There are only two small hotels and 
the railroad buildings here. It is surrounded by an alkali coun¬ 
try not farmed, and hence no local support for a town. 

Tipton is on the S. P. R. R., 262 miles from San Francisco, 
and about twelve miles south of Tulare City, on the railroad. 
It is as yet a very small town, having but two stores, one hotel, 
and a few other buildings. It is destined to have a “boom” 
soon, however, for it is in one of the most important sections 
of the artesian belt. Some of the best wells in the county 
have been bored within a few miles of Tipton. Land is cheap 
there just now but it is being bought up and settled upon 
very rapidly. Tipton is destined to be a thriving place. 

The country here is all open and very much as Fresno was 
before the introduction of its ditches. Some of the settlers 
are building very substantial houses, are rapidly moving in and 
preparing to improve their land. Those who are lucky enough 
to have artesian water are setting out orchards and vineyards 
and putting out alfalfa or millet, and making their places look 
handsome. 

Cross Creek is a switch on the railroad, seven miles north 
of Goshen. It is of no importance only as a shipping point for 
stock and grain. 

Lakeside as it name implies is situated near the lake, and 
is but a small collection of neighbors. The Lakeside ditch for 
irrigation passes through here, but the water is often very low 
on account of use further up. There is a Good Templars Lodge 
here with the following officers: Thos. E. Howes, W. C. T.; 
Emma Eells, W. V. T.; Bell Meadows, W. S.; Flora Dibble, 
W. F. S.; Mrs. Frank Howe, W. A. F. S.; C. F. Goodale, W. 
M.; Judson Dibble, W. I. G.; Sidney Meadows, W. O. G. 

Woodville, is situated twenty miles south of Visalia, in 
the center of a vast farming country and the natural center 
for a large business, but is quite lacking in energy and thrift. 
It is on the Tule River, about six miles east of the railroad. 

It has one store owned by Dickey Bros., who do a large 
business, and also run a wagon factory and a blacksmith shop. 
The country around Woodville is well cultivated, and most of 
the farms are well improved. The cattle interests of this local¬ 
ity are quite extensive. 

Porterville is situated on Tule River just as it leaves the 
foot-hills twenty-three miles southeast of Tulare City, and 
thirty miles from Visalia. It has a hotel, a church, two drug 
stores, two blacksmith shops, four general merchandise stores, 
a good school house with two departments, two livery stables 
and a first-class grist-mill run by water power. 












DESCRIPTION OE TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


175 


It has probably 300 inhabitants, and has a good farming 
community to support it. The land is rich and much of it is 
under cultivation. Some of the best orchards in the county 
are in that vicinity. The cattle and sheep interests of this 
neighborhood are also very large. The town is situated at the 
foot of the great Sierra Nevada Range, and consequently 
peculiarly blessed in the way of scenery. At a single glance 
may be seen the foot-hills covered with their beautiful green, 
and the snow-capped peaks in the distance, but the greatest 
novelty to new-comers is the view of the snow upon the mount¬ 
ains by moonlight. It is grand beyond description, and one 
never tires of gazing on the sublimest of scenes. 

Farmersville is a small hamlet seven miles from Visalia, 
and twelve miles northeast of Tulare City. There is a large 
hotel kept by Mr. C. P. Brown, a blacksmith shop belonging to 
the same gentleman, one store, and several other small build¬ 
ings, and a large two-story school house. The country around 
Farmersville is similar to that in the vicinity of Visalia. It 
is heavily timbered and is very rich. About all of the land is 
fenced up and most of the farmers have good houses and are 
well-to-do. 

Farmersville lodge of Good Templars is in a very flourishing 
condition, and meets regularly. 

Yokohl Post-office, T. E. Carrington, Postmaster, is twenty- 
three miles from Visalia, on the Yokohl Creek which is a 
branch of the Kaweah. The stage road passes over an eleva¬ 
tion of two or three hundred feet into the valley of the Yokohl, 
the waters of which are mainly utilized for irrigating purposes. 
This valley is about fifteen miles in length, by fi-om two to 
three miles in width, and is divided into two school districts. 
The country here, excepting immediately along the banks of 
the river, is undulating and is excellent grazing land. Along 
the river are some fine farms, well stocked. 

The valley extends northwest and southeast, and the route 
passes through the entire length of it to Blue Ridge (a spur 
of the Sierra Nevada Mountains), which it crosses, reaching an 
elevation of 2,500 feet. From the summit of this mountain 
it takes a southeasterly course, and descends into the valley nf 
Mountain View. 

Manzanita Post-office, Mrs. E. A. Cramer, Postmistress, 
is located twelve miles from Yokohl. This valley is about 
twelve miles in length, and from one-half to five miles in width. 
It is watered by the North Tule River, which rises high up 
in the mountains and flows southwest into Tulare Lake. The 
soil in this place is not adapted to agriculture, though there 
are four or five quite excellent farms, and fruit of very fine 
quality is quite extensively raised. Stock-raising is the main 
industry, and the surrounding hills and mountains furnish ex¬ 
cellent grazing for cattle, while the great quantities of mast 
which abounds here, furnish food for thousands of swine. 


Soda Springs, quite celebrated as a summer resort for in¬ 
valids in summer, is situated where the Middle Tule empties 
into the main river. The facilities for irrigation are increased, 
making the country, as one descends the river, more favora¬ 
ble to agriculture. At this point there are but few farms, ex¬ 
cept those for the cultivation of fruit; and, as in Mountain 
View, stock-raising is the main industry, both on the Middle 
and Main Tule. 

The school house is built in close proximity to the springs, 
where the pupils can resort during the intermission, and quaff the 
health-giving liquid. At this point is a boarding-house and 
hall, built by Mrs. Tabor, of Sin Francisco, about 1872. She 
at that time attempted to establish a “water cure,” but aban¬ 
doned it as a non-paying institution. 

Greenback is situated in Pleasant Valley. A. Fletcher, 
Postmaster. The valley is seven or eight miles in length, and 
from three to seven in width, and is peopled with an enterpris¬ 
ing, industrious class, who use the rich soil especially for cereals 
and fruit. 

There was a Greenback Association formed here which still 
lives and flourishes. The success of the association gave rise 
to the desire to perpetuate the name by giving it to the post- 
office. This district embraces a number of good farms, where 
grain is raised exclusively, and also many small ones near the 
foot-hills that are well adapted for the cultivation of fruit and 
vegetables. The industries of this section are stock-raising, 
cultivation of fruit, carp culture and poultry-raising. The 
fruit raised here is second to none in the county, and many 
new orchards and vineyards are now being started. 

There are here several fine ponds stocked with carp, and 
many more to be started, an industi’y which has a pleasing 
appearance to nearly every one as it combines both the orna¬ 
mental and the useful. 

Frazier Post-office, Mrs. M. C. K. Shuey, Postmistress, is 
named from the valley in which it is located. This valley is about 
twelve miles in length, by from two to six in width, and is one 
of the richest farming sections in the county. Nearly all the 
land is level and is easily cultivated. Tropical fruit such as 
the orange, lime, and lemon have been raised here in a few 
places, while other varieties of fruit are raised successfully. 

Dillon’s Mills are nine miles from Visalia on the head¬ 
waters of the Tule River, and Rand & Houghton’s mill is 
eight miles further up the stream on a branch called the 
Rancherea. The lumber of these mills is hauled to Visalia. 

Camp Badger is situated in the mountains close up to the 
snow line, near the lumber mills. In the summer-time large 
flocks of sheep range through this section of the mountains and 
overrun the settlers. This is the post-office address of Super¬ 
visor W. T. Osborn, who ably represents this section of the 
county. 















176 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


Biographical Notices. 

Wm. Thomas Osborn, of Tulare County, is among the 
number of those early pioneers who braved privations, perils, 
and even death itself, in helping to open up civilization on the 
Pacific Coast. He was born in Georgia, March 27, <1827, and 
his early years were spent on a farm, to which occupation he 
was brought up. 

At the age of twenty-two, he left his native place bound for 
the gold fields of California, of which wonderful stories had 
x’eached and spread all over the Atlantic States. Arriving at 
Independence, Missouri, which was at that time the starting 
point for trains bound overland, he joined a train, and on the 
9th of May, 1849, the long train of ox-teams formed in line, 
and with high hopes, and fond anticipations of untold wealth 
in the near future, the long and eventful journey was begun. 

The experiences of Mr. Osborn were similar to hundreds of 
others in that early day. The route taken by them, after 
leaving Salt Lake, where they spent two months resting and 
recruiting their teams, was by the southern route, without 
a guide or even road, and they were finally obliged to abandon 
their wagons, and with what little provisions they could carry, 
drive their oxen 400 miles across the desert, through Death 
Valley, crossing the Sierra Mountains through Walkers Pass, 
at the head of the South Fork of Kern River, thence northwest 
to Mariposa County where they found the first settlement of 
whites. At that time, 1849, there were no settlements south 
of Mariposa Creek in that valley. 

Mr. Osborn mined from 1850 to 1856 in Mariposa and 
Merced Counties with indifferent success. In the fall of 1856 
he came to Tulare County and engaged in teaming and lumber¬ 
ing, which occupation he followed for a number of years. 

He is at present engaged in farming, on 160 acres, forty miles 
from the county seat. His post-office is Camp Badger, three 
quarters of a mile from school and church. The land is mount¬ 
ain valley, good soil. Barley, oats, and hay give abundant 
yield. He has a young apple orchard. He keeps some 50 
head of cattle, 300 hogs, 30 sheep, 15 horses. 

In 1865 he married MissLavina Smith, a native of Virginia. 
They have five children, Mary Lavina, Thomas Jesse, Sarah 
Olive, Helena Drucilla, and James Orlan Osborn. 

John F. Jordan, the County Auditor, is the youngest 
man who ever held a county office in Tulare. He was elected 
in 1879. That this was a good selection is proven by his 
integrity, ability, and faithfulness, which insured his re-election 
in 1882. 

John F. Jordan is a native of Louisiana, where he was born 
December 10, 1850. When four years old, his father, Frank 
Jordan, who was captain of the train of seventy-four families 
which came across Texas to California in 1854, took him along 


and landed him safely after a nine months’ journey, in San 
Juan, Monterey County, California. 

In 1860 he became an inhabitant of this county and remained 
such ever since. Although he roamed about in many of the 
counties of California in order to get an education in private 
and public schools, or to find his fortune in the mines, still he 
looked upon this county as his home. Not being very fortunate 
in his mining operations, though retaining his health,he engaged 
in stock-raising and farming until 1874; but being ambitious 
and not satisfied with the education he had received so far, he 
entered Heald’s Business College in San Francisco, from which 
he graduated as a book-keeper, February 18, 1875. 

After returning from San Francisco he became successively 
Deputy Postmaster, Deputy Sheriff under C. R. Wingfield, 
Deputy Superintendent of public schools, and Deputy Auditor. 
In 1878 he started a business of his own, a butcher shop; but 
having shown himself an efficient deputy, he now was called 
upon to fulfill the full duties of a county officer, which he has 
done to every one’s satisfaction. 

Mr. Jordan in 1881, married Miss Allie L. Neille, the amiable 
daughter of the present Justice of the Peace, Hon. A. C. Neille, 
who on the 15th of July, 1882, presented him with a daughter, 
which is named Ethel V. Joi-dan. 

Seth Smith was born in Columbia County, New York, 
April 19, 1846, in which vicinity he remained until his 
twentieth year, when he removed to New York City, where 
he lived two years. 

Taking the advice of Horace Greeley, he left New York in 
1867 and removed to Kansas, taking up his residence in Louis¬ 
ville, Pottawatomie County, where he lived for eight years. 
In 1875 he left Kansas and came to California, settling near 
•Visalia, in Tulare County. 

In 1877 he was elected County Surveyor of Tulare County, 
and took up his residence in Visalia, where he has since resided. 
He was also elected County Assessor in 1882, and is filling the 
place with satisfaction to all his constituents. 

He married Miss Mary L. Anderson, a native of Ohio, in 
1£70. They have two boys. 

Charles H. Murphy, Superintendent of Public Schools 
of Tulare County, was born January 31, 1854, at High Hill, 
Ohio, a small town near the Muskingum River, so called from 
its being situated on the highest point in the State, and is 
noted for its high mounds and old ruins of an extinct tribe of 
Indians. His parents who were natives of Loudoun County, 
Virginia, returned to that State, engaging in agricultural pur¬ 
suits, and in the } 7 ear 1867 removed to southern Iowa, where 
they are now living. The confused state of the public schools 
during that period afforded but meagre facilities for a public 
school education. 

In the summer of 1872, after having finished the public 










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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


177 


school coarse he (Charles H.) entered the Troy Normal School, 
teaching during the winter, and in 1873 entered the Missouri 
State Normal School, making his way by alternating, teaching 
a time and then attending school, and in June, 1876, graduated 
from that institution. In August of the same year he came to 
California, engaged in teaching, the three years previous to his 
election as Superintendent of Schools of Tulare County, acted 
as Principal of the Visalia Public Schools. 

J. E. Denny is one of the popular and influential men of 
Tulare County. He is a native of Illinois, and came overland 
as early as 1854 with an ox-team, as was then the custom, and 
at once engaged in mining with others in Sierra County. 

He came to Tulare County in 1859, and was successfully 
engaged in a ferry and also in mercantile pursuits for a num¬ 
ber of years. 

In 1873 he was elected on the Independent ticket to the 
office of County Clerk, and in 1875 was elected to that of 
County Recorder and Auditor. In 1882 he was elected to 
the position of County Recorder. These positions have been 
ably and satisfactorily filled as is shown by his re-elections. 

L. Gilroy, the County Clerk, keeps the business of the office 
in neat and comprehensive style, and discharges the duties of 
his position with credit to himself and his constituents who 
elected him to that position in 1882, by the largest majority 
given any candidate. 

Mr. Gilroy was engaged in a large general merchandise 
and commission store. He commenced doing business in 
Lemoore the 1st of November, 1878. He was previously in 
business in Kingston, Fresno County, in partnership with E. 
Jacobs, of Visalia, under the firm name of Gilroy & Co. He 
made himself successful as a merchant by giving more goods 
and a better quality than any other store in the county. 

While Mr. Gilroy was living at Kingston, he had an advent¬ 
ure with the noted highwayman, Vasquez, who with two others 
came into his room while he and E. C. Douglas, of Visalia, were 
eating their suppers, and demanded their money, watches, and 
the safe key from Mr. Gilroy. Mr. Gilroy knocked one down 
with a chair and another with his fist. The third one then 
kn >cked Mr. Gilroy down with a six-shooter. They then tied 
him and Mr. Douglas, taking watches and money from both of 
those gentlemen. An extended account of Vasquez’ oper¬ 
ations is given elsewhere. 

Mr. Gilroy is a pleasant, genial gentleman, and polite and 
accommodating in his official business connected with the 
office of Clerk. 

William F. Martin was elected Sheriff of Tulare County 
in November, 1882, by a large majority. He has, since he 
came into the position, proved himself to possess in a high de- 
o-ree the executive abilitv required in that position and in the 
discharge of his duties commands the respect of the people. 


Thomas Creighton resides in Visalia, and is a civil engineer 
by profession. His experience has been very large, having 
been for sixteen years prominently engaged in railroad and 
other public work. 

He was born in Cobourg, in the Pi-ovince of Ontario, Can¬ 
ada. He resided in Rochester, New York, for a number of 
years, and came to Tulare City, June 26,1874, and engaged in 
his old profession of surveyor. 

He was married in 1859 to Miss Helen M. Smith, a native 
of the State of New York. They have one child, Fred. M. 
Creighton. 

Mr. Creighton is the County Surveyor of Tulare County, 
having been elected to that position in 1882 by a very large 
maj ority. 

J. W. C. Pogue is one of the representative men of Tulare 
County, to which place he came in 1862, and engaged in farm¬ 
ing and stock-raising. He was born in Greene County, Tennes¬ 
see, June 1, 1839. At the early age of three years he lost 
both his parents the same day, of typhoid fever. They had 
emigrated to Missouri in 1844. In 1857 he started for Cali¬ 
fornia by the overland route and was six months on the way. 
He first stopped in Sonoma County, October 1,1857, and went 
to farming. In 1859 he we it to Mendocino County and 
resided in Little Lake Valley two years. 

He married Miss Nancy M. Blair in 1859, who was a native 
of Missouri. They have six children, named as follows; 
Martha Louisa, Eugenie, J. Earley, Sariah Evey, Thomas, and 
Oily M. Pogue. 

Mr. Pogue is one of the large and successful farmers of the 
county. He has 3,500 acres eighteen miles from Visalia. Of 
this 2,000 acres is of good tillable land and the balance grow¬ 
ing land lying on the Kaweah River just at the foot of the 
Sierra Mountains. On the place he keeps usually about 40 
head of cattle, 400 hogs, and 40 horses. 

He has only a small orchard of two and one-half acres, but 
it contains nearly every variety of fruit grown in California, 
such as oranges, limes, lemons, apricots, cherries, etc. In 
fact Mr. Pogue informs us that any fruit grown in California 
does well on these foot-hill farms and along the Kaweah 
River. 

Mr. Pogue is now one of the Supervisors of his county and 
is a leading representative in the Board. He was the Demo¬ 
cratic nominee for Senator from this district a few years ago. 
He is a gentleman well qualified to fill the position, being a 
man of more than ordinary intelligence, and an honorable, 
respectable citizen. He is a live man and thoroughly inter¬ 
ested in the success of the Democratic Party. 

t 

Edwin Giddings, of Lemoore, was born on the 2d day 
of November, 1818, in the township of Wayne, Ashtabula 
County, Ohio. He was raised on a farm, attending the com- 






178 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


mon schools of the neighborhood for his education. In those 
days the boys were expected to do the work on the farm, and 
if a little leisure, they were allowed to work for a neighbor, 
and thereby obtain spending money. The first work so 
obtained was driving an ox-team—four yoke of oxen—to plow. 
This was at the age of twelve or thirteen years; wages twdve 
and a half cents per day. At the age of twenty-two years, 
on the l()th day of December, 1840, he married Miss Lana M. 
Sweet, who was born in the State of New York. Soon after 
they moved into the beech and maple woods in Cherry Valley, 
Ashtabula County, Ohio, to carve out a farm. It was a slow 
process, and then when the land was cleared, it was hard to 
find the ground, because of the beech roots. A few years of 
that kind of farming was quite sufficient, particularly for one 
who had seen the prairies of Illinois and Wisconsin. In 1844 
he visited the western country, and located a claim in Dodge 
County, Wisconsin. In the spring of 1845, in company with 
Edwin Warren, Coryden Warren, and James Warren, started 
for Wisconsin by land. On arriving at Cleveland, a steamer 
or two were in port bound for the Upper Lakes. A trade 
was soon made to take all—horses, wagons, and their loads, 
including men, women, and children, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
The trip was a favorable one, and in five or six days all were 
landed safe on t e wharf at Milwaukee—much cheaper, 
quicker, and easier than the trip could otherwise have been 
made. 

The trip by land to the interior was necessarily a slow one 
—rainy weather and roads muddy. In time, however, Water- 
town was reached, and from there to Oak Grove the roads 
were passable. A few days after the party were on their 
claims near the foot of the Winnebago Marsh, afterwards the 
thriving town of Horicon on Rock River. The land settled 
upon was oak and maple openings. Early in the winter of 
1845-46, when all were from home, his house was burned, and 
all therein. If there could be a bright side to such a misfort¬ 
une, it was in the kindness of the immediate neighbors and 
friends in assisting to rebuild, and in making good their little 
all that had been lost by the fire. 

In the fall of 1846, Mr. Giddings was elected to fill a very 
short vacancy in the County Recorder’s Office. In the fall of 
1848, he was elected County Recorder for the term of two 
years. Early in January, 1840, he moved to Juneau, the 
county seat of Dodge County. Before and during this term 
he was considerably troubled with the scrof la. which at that 
time and in that new country was very little understood. It 
was in this case known to be hereditary, and by many thought 
to be incurable. During his term of office. Doctor Whitney, 
of Milwaukee, had occasion to attend court in Dodge County. 
He was advised with, and under his treatment Mr. Giddings 
was much benefited. 

In the winter of 1852 Mr. Giddings with his family, in com¬ 


pany with James R. Whaley, H. H. Rich, Win. Alexander, Selah 
Barber, and a few others from Dodge County, started for Cali¬ 
fornia overland, crossing the Mississippi at Dubuque, Iowa, 
arriving at Ivanesville early in March. This trip was not for 
the purpose of making money, but for health, for a warmer 
and better climate to enjoy life in. Just then Kanesville was 
a lively place, many there, and constant new arrivals on their 
way to California. Everything in the provision line for man 
and beast was plenty and cheap. Time passed rapidly while 
preparing for the long, long journey across the plains. Most 
people there did not like to leave early. But the little party 
from Wisconsin, with a few recruits, joined forces with a Mr. 
Barrett, who had a small company at Council Bluffs, with a 
fair supply of grain for horse feed, and in all things being pre¬ 
pared for such a trip, crossed the Missouri River on the 23d 
day of April, 1852, and camped the first night on the west 
bank of the stream. It was the beginning of a long journey 
outside of civilization. They were the first party on the north 
side of the Platte River that season. In fact, the second 
party of the season in crossing the plains. The trip was a 
slow one to Fort Laramie—giving the teams plenty of time 
to eat, and till then having fed grain, the teams were in fine 
condition, seasoned to their work, and far ahead of the bulk 
of the emigration. From there the travel was much faster, 
making about thirty miles a day. After crossing the desert 
with safety, the teams were recruited a few days in the hills 
on Carson River. On arriving at the foot of the mountains, 
they found the one train ahead of them, waiting for company 
to cross the mountains. A few pack trains only had crossed 
the Sierras that spring. But it was thought best not to delav. 
The start was made. Up, up they went, traveling over twelve 
miles of snow. Feed, however, was found on the route, and 
the trip successfully made, almost entirely free from sickness, 
without loss of stock, landing in Hangtown, El Dorado 
County, on the 10th day of July, 1852. It was a pleasant 
and agreeable journey, among many strangers—a jolly set all 
seeking the golden land. 

After arriving at Sacramento, and at the suggestion of J 
V. Hoag, who was then running a ferry across the Sacra¬ 
mento River, Mr. Giddings and family went to Cache Creek, 
Yolo County, and there located on unsurveyed Government 
land south of the Harbin Grant. The winter of 1852-53 was 
a wet one; a flood in November, again in March—a sea of 
water all winter between the settlement and Sacramento, sup¬ 
plies all coming from that city, and the only way possible in 
getting them was by the way of Knight’s Landing and the 
river. This was a hard winter, and especially so for new¬ 
comers with limited queans. Talk about monopoly being an 
invention of these later days. Flour $40.00 per barrel. Yet 
that was the price dur.ng that long, dreary winter. Fi’om 
§8.00 to $40.00 per barrel, raised simply because a few men 













BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


179 


could control the market for a few mouths. Notwith¬ 
standing the rain and floods, the winter was warm and pleas¬ 
ant save the extreme rain-storms which generally lasted about 
forty-eight hours. Through the kindness of Mr. Hunt, of 
Cache Creek, Mr. Giddings was able to obtain seed for about 
thirty acres of grain. The season was good, crop good, and 
market good. Four dollars a hundred for wheat, a fair start 
in California life. 

September 5, 1855, he was elected Justice of the Peace for 
Cache Creek Township. On November 6, 1860, he was again 
elected Justice of the Peace; also associate Justice in connec¬ 
tion with I. N. Hoag, Isaac Davis being County Judge. He 
was elected County Clerk, Yolo County, September 4, 1861, 
for the term of two yeai’s and five months. At the expiration 
of the term he was appointed Deputy County Clerk, under Mr. 
Bronnell who died during the term of office. Mr. Giddings was 
then appointed County Clerk to fill the vacancy, by the Board 
of Supervisors, on the 11th day of April, 1865. On the 6th 
of September, 1865, he was again elected County Clerk for the 
term of two years. While holding office Mr. Giddings was 
still a farmer on a small scale. He introduced the first alfalfa 
near Woodland, and made the first success in raising it in the 
county off from the Sacramento River. 

In the summer of 1873, through Mr. Geo. Cotton, Mr. Gid¬ 
dings heard of the Mussel Slough country in Tulare County. 
He made two trips to the county, traveling on both sides of 
the King’s River, resulting finally in purchasing the claim of 
John Kanawyeron sections 8 and 5, township 19 south, 
range 21 east. Afterwards he purchased land of Mr. 
Williams immediately on Mussel Slough and adjoining, 
which now constitutes his farm. A portion of the family 
moved onto the farm in the fall of 1873. At that 
time the country was dry, but the Last Chance Ditch 
and the People’s Ditch were in the course of construction. 
He assisted in the construction of both ditches, and still holds 
an interest in the Last Chance Ditch, from which his farm is 
irrigated. In coming to the county he drove a small band of 
fine Spanish Merino sheep, which has increased till now the. 
business of the farm is raising alfalfa and sheep. 

He was elected Supervisor for the Third Supervisors District, 
Tulare County, in the fall of 1876. which office he held about 
one year and then resigned. 

George Fisher Rice was boi’n in Warrick County, 
Indiana, and was the second son of James and Lucinda Clark 
Rice. Resided principally in Indiana till February, 1854, when 
he started to California by what was then called the northern 
route, by way of Council Bluffs, thence by Salt Lake. He was 
seven and a half months coming, arriving at Stockton 
October 15, 1854. He mined in Mariposa County four years. 

He came to Tulare County in November, 1858, and settled 
permanently, engaging in the business of farming and stock¬ 


raising. He located on Outside Creek of the “ Four Creeks,” 
ten miles from Visalia, near - the head of Elk Bayou. Buying 
first 160 acres of land, he has continued to add to it by 
purchase til] at the present time (May, 1883) his farm con¬ 
sists of 3,500 acres. He and his family have always enjoyed 
excellent health. He married Miss Frances N. Bell, July 18, 
1861, who was a native of Iowa. By this marriage four 
children weie born, two daughters and two sons, named, 
Marietta, Jennie, Lewis Clarke and James. Frances N. Rice 
died June 26, 1876. Marietta Rice, eldest daughter of G. F. 
Rice, was married January 17, 1882, to W. A. Gray, Esq., of 
Lemoore. They reside at Lemoore. 

G. F. Rice was married in Visalia March 26, 1878, to Miss 
Frances Dibble, of Marietta, Ohio. Miss Dibble was a graduate 
of the Marietta High School, and a teacher by profession, 
having taught in Ohio, Iowa, and Illinois previous to coming 
to California, where she taught one year prior to her marriage 
with G. F. Rice. Mr. Rice having come to California at an 
early day, it may not be amiss to mention some of his experi¬ 
ences. He started from Indiana in company with thirty-two 
men, most of them single men and some only in their teens. 
In regard to finances the outfit was slender indeed, Mr Rice 
having only $11.05. He walked all the way from Council 
Bluffs. Two of the company died of cholera on the plains. 
Mr. Rice’s possessions when he reached Stockton comprised 
some school-books and a gun. He sold the gun for $5.00; with 
this he paid for the first night’s lodging and breakfast for him¬ 
self and three comrades. For this gun he had paid just prior 
to starting to California, 100 bushels of corn, worth there 
twenty-five cents per bushel. 

At the time of Mr. Rice’s settlement on Outside Creek there 
were a good many Indians in the vicinity. These have had 
their home on Mr. Rice’s land till within the last year, many 
of them having died, the rest moved away. He has always 
found them friendly and harmless. Mr. Rice is a Republican 
in politics. 

Arthur Henry Sanders, of Hanford, Tulare County, 
was born June 18, 1852, in the county of Wellington, Canada 
West, on his father’s farm two miles east of the town of 
Guelph. Till the age of twenty-one his time was spent in work¬ 
ing on the farm and obtaining his education in the various 
public schools of Guelph. 

May 15, 1872, he started for California by way of Chicago 
and the Union and Central Pacific Railroads. After spending 
a short time in Sacramento, he located on a wheat ranch in 
Merced County, on Bear Creek, six miles east of the town of 
Merced. 

In the spring of 1874 he removed to the Mussel Slough Dis¬ 
trict, where he pre-empted a quarter section of land, his present 
home, five miles south of Hanford. He has since been engaged 
there in grain and stock-raising. His ranch is twenty-five 





180 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


miles slightly south of west from Visalia, the county seat. 
The soil is a productive sandy loam, its chief want being an 
abundant supply of water for irrigation. For the latter, it 
depends upon Lakeside ditch, which is taken from Cross Creek, 
about eight miles below the railroad crossing near Grandview, 
and is supplied with water from the Kaweah River. He had 
125 aci'es under fence, seventy-five of which are sown to alfalfa, 
and divided into three parts for pasture and meadow. 

He has made a specialty of raising draught horses of Nor¬ 
man stock, and his Norman horse Enterprise is acknowledged 
to be in all respects the finest of his breed ever brought to 
Tulare County. 

Daniel Rhoads was born in Edgar County, Illinois, on 
the 7th of December, 1821. His father, Thomas Rhoads, was 
a farmer four miles south of Paris, the county seat, and was 
one of the first settlers of that part of Illinois, having removed 
from his native State, Kentucky, about the year 1812. The 
early years of the subject of this sketch were spent upon his 
father’s farm, until the family l’ernoved in 1835 to Ray County, 
Missouri. Here he worked on his father’s farm till he was 
married to Miss Amanda Esrey, October 4, 1843. Meanwhile 
he had enjoyed the meagre advantages of education then 
afforded by the country schools of Illinois and Missouri, which 
he attended in winter. He then established a home for him¬ 
self on eighty acres allotted to him by his father, near his own 
farm. 

In the spring of 1846, in April, he and his wife started with 
his father and family for San Francisco Bay, with an ox-team, 
joining at times with emigrant trains bound for Oregon, and 
they entered California with Captain lines’ train by the Don- 
ner Lake route, through Emigrant Gap, in the latter part 
of September. He was induced to seek a home in the new 
West, as were many of the early emigrants, by the accounts of 
California given in the reports of Fremont’s first expedition. 
On the route across the plains they were fortunate to escape 
any hostile encounter with the Indians, but a band of Pawnee 
Indians managed, near Grand Island, on Big Platte River, to 
stampede all the horses of their train except three, but they 
succeeded in bringing most of their ca tle through. After 
crossing the Sierra Nevada Mr. Rhoad’s party stopped for a 
month at Johnson’s ranch, on Bear River, to recruit from the 
fatigue of the long and wearisome trip across the plains, which 
had occupied about five months. 

He then settled within a mile of Sutter’s Fort, on American 
River, and engaged in stock-raising, in the employ of Sinclair & 
Grimes. 

In January, 1847, an Indian runner brought to Sutter’s 
Fort, by letter to Captain Sutter, the news of the sufferings of 
the Donner party and their danger of starvation. Mr. Rhoads 

and Mr. Sinclair at once went on foot to Johnson’s ranch, on 

0 

Bear River, it being impossible to go with horses, so boggy 


was all that region from heavy rains. Here four days were 
spent by men, women and children, and “tame Indians in 
drying beef over fires barbecue fashion, and cracking wheat 
and running it through sieves, the only means of milling in 
those primitive days. 

With these supplies, Mr. Rhoads and fifteen others, with 
sufficient pack-animals, laboriously made their way over track¬ 
less, rocky ridges, and canons, and across swollen streams, to the 
snow line on the piny ridge just bejmn I “Steep Hollow.” 

Here the pack-train was left in charge of a man and boy, 
and the relief supplies were packed the remaining distance of 
about eighty miles on the backs of fourteen men, on snow-shoes, 
for the first three days to Bear Valley, at the head of Bear 
River, and afterwards by half that number. The party started 
for Donner Lake February 5th. The weight carried by each 
man was seventy-five pounds, including a blanket, hatchet, 
tin cup to make soup of dried beef and cracked wheat (no tea 
or coffee), and enough raw hide cut in slips to make the 
meshes of their snow-shoes. On their route they provided for 
their return by tying to the limbs of pines small packages of 
beef and wheat in bits of canvas. So heavy was the fall of 
snow and so great its depth, twelve to twenty feet, as they 
advanced towards the summit, that seven of the party were 
discouraged, believing it impossible to make the trip, and 
turned back from the head of Bear River. 

The packs of the seven who still ventured to advance in the 
face of these appalling dangers, were replenished from the packs 
of the seven who returned to the pack-train. For two weeks 
more these seven toiled on before they reached the snow-cov¬ 
ered huts of the starving emigrants. At least twelve days 
were consumed in reaching the summit, some advance being 
made every day. 

In two da} ? s from the summit they reached the head of 
Donner Lake, and the; camps February 18, 1847. The lake 
was covered with thick ice and snow, and they made their way 
directly down its entire length to the head of one branch of 
the Truckee River. During this dreary tramp of two weeks, 
the relief party had suffered greatly from the severe cold and 
sleepless nights, their only way of building fires being to cut 
small green pines, make platforms or hearths of them on the 
deep snow, and build their fires of dry limbs upon them. This 
was to prevent the fires from sinking into the snow as they 
otherwise would in a single night to a depth of twenty feet. 
They slept while seated around the fires leaning against each 
other and wrapped in their blankets. They also set fire to the 
upper parts of standing dead trees, as a guide for themselves 
and others. 

A man named R. P. Tucker, now living in Santa Barbara 
County, and Mr. Rhoads’ brother, John P., since dead, were 
made commanders of the party. The other four were Mr. R. 
S. Mootrey, now living in Santa Clara County, Mr. A. Glover, 











BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


181 


long since dead, and two sailors, named Joseph Foster and 
E. Coffeemire. 

On approaching the camp, February 18th, all the surround¬ 
ings were so desolate that the party began to conclude that all 
had perished. Not a hut was in sight. At last, however, a faint 
smoke was seen coming out of the snow about sixty yards 
ahead of them. In answer to a loud hello! a woman came to 
the surface of the snow from a chute that rose out of a hut 
twenty feet down in the snow-bank. A second woman, ema¬ 
ciated from want of food, soon followed. Seeing the men 
approaching, she threw up her hands and exclaimed, with tears 
in her eyes, “Oh! are you men from California or from 
Heaven!” In this hut they found Mr. Keseberg and about a 
dozen others. Keseberg and others were unable to rise. 

At this meeting, Mr. Rhoads says: “There were no dry eyes.” 
Thirty of the emigrants attached to the parties here relieved 
had already died from starvation and exposure, either in the 
camps, or in vain efforts to cross the summit. The only things 
left them for food were a few small pieces of rawhide, and 
bones which they had boiled for soup again and again. 

After spending two days in the camps, and distributing the 
greater part of their provisions, Mr. Rhoads’ party started on 
the return trip accompanied by most of the survivors who were 
able to undertake the journey, twenty-one in number. Dur¬ 
ing the five days spent in returning over the trail they had 
made, three of the rescued died. One was an infant, carried 
for a time in the arms of John Rhoads, the second a young 
Englishman named Denton, and the third one of the Donner 
boys, who ate too much dried beef when they reached the pack- 
train. 

They started on their return with only one day’s provisions, 
and expecting to get their caches of food in the trees, they 
were dismayed to find that the mountain wolves and foxes had 
made way with all these return supplies, and they had nothing to 
eat for the last three days but the rawhide strips of their snow- 
shoes, roasted to a crisp. 

On the last day before reaching their pack-an.mals, they met 
another relief party going to the Donner camp, in charge of 
James F. Reed and William McCutchen. This party was 
sent from Yerba Buena, by direction of Commodore Stockton. 

Such were some of the thrilling scenes and adventures in 
which Mr. Rhoa Is took part, in the early days of California. 

In June, 1847, Mr. Rhoads moved to the Cosumnes River, 
and the following October to Sonoma, for the winter. In 1848 
he returned to what is now Sacramento County, settling on 
Dry Creek, on the Briggs and Burris ranch, a mile below 
where Galt now stands, and was there when gold was dis¬ 
covered at Sutter’s Mill. 

For the next two years, working about two months each 
summer in the placer mines at and near Mormon Island, on the 
American River, he realized about $8,000, in gold-dust. 


In 1850, accompanied by Mrs. Rhoads, he returned to Mis¬ 
souri on a visit, by the isthmus route. Coming back to Sacra¬ 
mento County, he removed in April, 1851, to the neighborhood of 
what is now Gilroy, and bought 1,000 acres, for a stock ranch. 
In 1857, he drove his stock across the coast mountains to the 
wild plains along lower King’s River, then called by the Mex¬ 
icans, Rio cle Los Reys* His family remained in San Jose, 
for the education of his children, till the fall of 1860, when 
he removed them to his present home near Lemoore, which 
now greatly improved and beautified is represented in this 
volume as his “Evergreen Farm.” 

From that date, Mr. Rhoads has been prominently connected 
with the organization and history of Fresno and Tulare 
Counties. Here he has acquired a comfortable competency, 
is familiarly known, in a large circle of friends, as “Uncle 
Dan,” and his name will be long and honorably remembered 
as one of the earliest pioneers of central California. 

His family consists of three daughters and one son living, 
three sons having been buried in their childhood. Those liv¬ 
ing are: Mrs. Sarah Phillips, the wife of J. F. Phillips, of Le¬ 
moore, deceased; Mrs. Mary Keiffer, of San Mateo County; 
John W. Rhoads, married and living on a ranch near his 
father; and Miss Elvira H., who remains at home with her 
parents. 

A. S. Ayers is another of the prominent farmers of this 
county, and lives near Grangeville, within one mile of the 
church, and six miles from the railroad. At this home-like 
place we find Mr. A. S. Ayers, Mrs. Ellen Ayers nhe Mullen 
(married April 14, 1858), and their six promising children: 
Sadie, Andrew, Lillie, Edward, Walter, and Harry Ayers. 

Mr. Ayei's owns a farm of 640 acres, wheat and alfalfa 
land, an orchard containing 600 trees bearing fruit of different 
varieties, 12 head of cattle, 100 hogs, and 16 horses. He was 
born November 15, 1831, in Richland County, Ohio; has been 
brought up as a farmer, and left his home for California on the 
22d of March, 1852. 

Mr. Ayers arrived in Grizzly Flat, El Dorado County, the 23d 
day of July, 1852, and did, as almost everybody else, com¬ 
mence to mine. At first he mined in what is known as the 
Brownsville diggings,until 1856, then, until 1858, near Jackson ; 
het hen went to Butte mines, where he mined on the Feather 
River until 1866. 

In 1866, Mr. Ayers gave up mining and commenced to farm 
in Yolo County; he remained there until 1877, when he settled 
down in what is known as the Mussel Slough District, in this 
county. 

Oliver Paddock lives within six miles of Hanford, 
three miles from the railroad, and twenty-eight miles from the 
county seat. Mr. Paddock is a prominent sheep raiser. He 

*His cattle range extended to the Four Creeks, then known among the 
Spaniards as Quatros Arroyos. 












182 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


owns a flock of GOO fine sheep, which are valuable more on 
account of quality than quantity. His farm of 320 acres is of 
fertile soil, and adapted to raising most any kind of farm prod¬ 
ucts. His orchard of 200 trees furnishes peaches, apples, pears, 
plums, cherries, apricots, and nectarines. Six cows furnish 
milk, six hogs meat, and there are ten horses for work and 
pleasure. Altogether we see that Mr. Paddock has a pleasant 
and desirable home and property. That he had to work hard 
for it can be surmised. 

Mr. Paddock’s birth occurred April 4, 1834, in Cattaraugus 
County, New York. He lived with his parents on a farm up to 
his sixteenth year, when he entered into a mercantile concern. 
Before coming to California, he had drifted to Wisconsin, 
whence he started on the 1st of April, 1859, for this State. 
On the way overland, per ox-train, of which he was captain, 
he was once captured by Indians, but escaped unhurt. He 
says it was a nice trip of five months and twenty days, with¬ 
out any accidents worth mentioning. 

Mr. Paddock’s career sincehe arrived in California, September, 
1859, has been one of prosperity. In 1861, he went back 
East in order to bring his family to his new home in Tehama 
County. In 1863, he spent the summer in Virginia City, 
Nevada;* then went to San Mateo County, where he resided 
until 1876. In the same year he came to this county where 
his present home is located. 

Mr. and Mrs. Paddock (the latter Miss R. J. Lewis, of Michi¬ 
gan, whom he married in 1856), have a charming family of 
seven children, one boy and six girls, named: Edith O., May E., 
Fannie L., Jennie G., Nellie G., Bertie L., and Chester B. C. 
Paddock. 

% 

Samuel Tome has a fine place, which appears amongst 
our illustrations. His neat and pleasant home is situated near 
Hanford, in this county. Mr. Tome, who is a farmer, culti¬ 
vates 240 acres of land, which bring him an average of twenty 
bushels per acre yearly, and an orchard of 135 trees, which 
brings him fruits of various sorts. He owns 12 head of cattle, 
45 sheep, 20 hogs, besides horses and mules. 

Mr. Samuel Tome was born October 31, 1830. He grew 
up on a farm, and became a farmer. In 1860 he emigrated to 
Illinois from Pennsylvania; then in 1864 overland to Oregon; 
and finally, in 1866 came to California, where he established 
himself in Stockton. 

Seven years before leaving his native State, Mr. Tome mar¬ 
ried Miss Nancy Smeltzer, who is also a native of the same 
State. She accompanied him to every place where he went, 
and is at present making his home a pleasant one. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tome are the parents of four bright children, two boys 
and two girls, named: Agnes Wilson, Susie Bingham, J. 
Pelter, and Henry Tome. 

In 1873 the family moved into this county to their present 
abode, which is situated twenty-one miles from Visalia, three 


and one-halt miles from the railroad, one and three-fourths 
miles from a school, and within three and one-half miles of a 
church. 

Madison Monroe Burnett was born in 1848, near 
Warsaw, Benton County, Missouri. When nearly eleven 
years of age, his two older brothers, Isham and John, joined 
on the 3d of May, 1859, a company consisting of eight fami¬ 
lies, who started on that day per ox-train across the continent 
towards California. Ao the request of the little boy, his 
brothers took him along, and thus he became a member of the 
party. 

As the company had a large drove of cattle, it took them 
four and a half months to accomplish their journey. They 
were attacked once, while going through Echo Pass, by a band 
of 100 armed Indians, which were repulsed, but succeeded in 
killing a large number of the company’s cattle. 

In the fall of the same year, Mr. Burnett, whose history we 
will give now only, arrived at Mountain View, where he 
attended school until 1865. Then he learned blacksmithing, 
which trade he followed up in different places until 1874, when 
he settled down and became a citizen of this county. 

Through industry and diligence, Mr. Burnett succeeded in 
acquiring the valuable property he now possesses. His prop¬ 
erty is located within two and a half miles of Tulare City, 
and seventeen miles of the county seat. The railroad runs 
through. Its consists of 700 acres, highly cultivated land, 
which will bring about thirty-five bushels of wheat or barley 
per acre in good seasons. An orchard thereon contains 140 
fruit-bearing trees, amongst which we find most all kinds of 
fruit. His stock consists of 350 head of fine sheep, 13 hogs, 
and about 30 horses. 

Mr. Burnett married, in 1882, Miss Floretta F. Churchill, a 
native of De Kalb County, Illinois. He is now the father of 
two children, named: Frank Walter and Myrtle Maud Bur¬ 
nett. 

S. M. Gilliam was elected Supervisor of his district 
November 7, 1882. He is a Democrat in politics. He has 
often represented his district in local conventions, and has been 
Trustee of Porterville School District for six years. He was 
a delegate to the late San Jose State Convention. 

He was born in Dallas, Polk County, Oregon, in 1854. His 
father was Rev. S. F. Gilliam. The subject of this sketch 
came to Tulare County in 1860, when only six years of age, 
and really is a native of Tulare County and identified with 
its interests. His father being unable to assist him, he was 
dependent upon his own exertions for an education and a start 
in life. He used to teach school in winter, and work as a 
laborer in the harvest field. He has attained his present 
standing by strict integrity and industry. 

His father emigrated from Oregon in 1859. He brought 
cattle to this county in July, 1860, and settled seven miles 












... 


FARM RES. OF W.G'. PENNEBAKER . ON OUTSIDE CREEK, 8 MILES S.E OF VISALIA, CALA 


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RANCH 8, RES . OF J.J. FULGHAM, 8 MILES SW 


VISALIA TULARE CO. CAL 


ELIIOTT. LITH **-2.1 IWNT.ST. 




































































































































































































BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


183 


east of Visalia near what is now Farmersville. But at that 
time the country was only sparsely settled, and there was no 
town there then. They lived there until the spring of 1867, 
and then moved to Tule River. They settled two and one-half 
miles from Porterville, which at that time consisted of a hotel 
and store. Young Gilliam helped his father on his farm until 
eighteen years of age. when he began teaching school, which 
he continued until he accumulated enough of means to enable 
him to attend college. He graduated at Heald’s Business Col¬ 
lege, San Francisco, April, 1871, after which he engaged in 
book-keeping until 1876, when he went into the mercantile 
business on his own account. He started with a small stock 
of notions, and kept the post-office and Wells, Fargo, & Co.’s 
Express, and continued in this manner until 1881, when he 
enlarged business by entering into copartnership with Mr 
Guy Gilmer, under the firm name of Gilliam & Gilmer. Their 
stock consisted of general merchandise. 

W. G. Pennebaker, who has had his fine farm sketched and 
represented among the homes of Tulare County farmers, fur¬ 
nishes the following descriptive narrative, which we publish 
entire:— 

“I was born in Owen County, Indiana. In 1844 my parents 
moved to Putnam County, where they lived until November, 
1846, when they removed to Des Moines County, Iowa, where 
they resided until August, 1850, when they emigrated to 
western Iowa, and located in Wayne County, fifteen miles 
northeast of Congdon, the county seat. This was a new 
country, with a settlement about every five or ten miles on the 
public highways and in the most favorable regions. The county 
settled rapidly, and the date of 1860 found heavy settlement 
all over the more fertile regions, with churches, schools, and 
prosperous little towns and villages in the more densely popu¬ 
lated parts. 

“In 1862 I enlisted in the Federal service, in the Fourth 
Regiment of Iowa Infantry Volunteers, Col. J. A. Williamson 
commanding. After rendezvousing at Camp McClellan, Da¬ 
venport, Iowa, we started for Helena, Arkansas, to join the 
command which had preceded us to that point, arriving there 
in November of the same year, and went into active service 
almost immediately. Was with the command on the Cold 
Water expedition, at the battle of Haines Bluff, on the Yazoo 
River, above Vicksburg. On New Year’s, 1863, was in the 
battle of Arkansas Post; again returned to Milliken’s Bend, op¬ 
posite and a little above Vicksburg, on the Louisiana side. 
Remained there until March, and made one raid after General 
Forest, starting from Greenville, Mississippi, and marching in 
the direction of Deer Creek. 

“I was afterwards present at the siege of Vicksburg, battles 
of Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Taylor’s Ridge, Resaca, 
and all the engagements that the Army of the Tennessee was 
in, including Atlanta and Sherman’s march to the sea; and 


back through the Carolinas to Raleigh, where we were tempo¬ 
rarily encamped when Lee surrendered, and peace was de¬ 
clared, when we took up our line of march for Washington 
City, where we arrived in time to take part in the r’eview, on 
May 16, 1865, after which we were transferred to Louisville, 
Kentucky, where we were mustered out, and retured to Daven¬ 
port, Iowa, in August of the same year. Receiving our dis¬ 
charge papers, we again started for our homes, from which we 
had been absent so long. 

“In 1867 I concluded to emigrate to California, and on the 
20th da}’ of April, 1868, started overland with my family, ac¬ 
companied by my parents, now eighty years of age, and a 
brother and family who had formerly resided in California, but 
was East on a visit; also a brother-in-law, James Peck, and 
family, and F. Brown and wife. Our route lay through the 
southern tier of counties of Iowa; and crossing the Missouri 

* a 

River at Nehraska City, started for the Platte River, by way 
of Lincoln, Nebraska; arriving at Fort Kearney, on the Platte 
River, where our stock, consisting of horses and mules, were 
stampeded at 9 P. M., May 8th. At 3 A. M. of the 9th, I 
started in pursuit, in company with William Boswell, W. H. 
Peck, and T. Brown, following our stock to the crossing of Bea¬ 
ver Creek, 130 miles, which they had made in eighteen hours, 
about eight miles per hour. We made the same distance in 
twenty-three hours, without food or rest: and, recovering our 
stock, joined our train. On the 15th we took up our line of 
march again, following the overland road to Salt Lake City, 
arriving there June 23d, and was present at the funeral of 
Heber Kimball, June 24, 1868. Leaving the city on the 26th, 
we again resumed our march, arriving at Carson City, thence 
to Dayton, Silver City, and crossed the summit of the Sierras. 

“We reached Visalia, Tulare County, August 6, 1868, after a 
tiresome journey of three months and a half. I immediately 
engaged in the business of raising sheep, which I pursued foi 
eight years with success. In 1871 I located on my present 
farm, eight miles southeast of Visalia, and have been engaged 
in farming, raising hogs, horses, and some cattle. 

“I have 730 acres of land, and cultivate about 320 acres. 
Yield of wheat per acre, about twenty-five bushels; barley, 
thirty; alfalfa, two tons per acre at each cutting. I have about 
500 fruit trees, 400 grape vines; grow apples,-peaches, plums, 
pears, apricots, nectarines, prunes, cherries, figs, also almonds 
and blackberries. The character of the soil is sandy loam, with 
good water privilege, both from ditch and also from the natural 
channel of Outside Creek, which runs one-half mile through 
my farm, affording a bountiful supply of stock water the entire 
year. 

“Was married February 26, 1859, to Miss Louisa J. Jennison, 
of Shelby County, Indiana. We have eight children—four 
boys and four girls—whcse names, in their order of birth are: 
Sarah E., Laura, William Sherman, Bloom, Leonora, Willie, 
Carl, and Cora Pennebaker.” 








3 84 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


Forrest G. Jefferds was born in Brownsville, Piscataquis 
County, State of Maine, August 26, 1829, and was the son of 
Alpheus and Rebekah Jefferds, who moved from Brownsville 
to Laxcroft, in the same county, when he was two years old, 
where he lived until he was sixteen years of age. He then got 
the consent of his father to leave home and take care of him¬ 
self, and went to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he found work 
in the Hamilton Point Works, and worked until the war with 
Mexico broke out, when he enlisted in Company A, Massachu¬ 
setts Volunteers, to serve during the war, and went to Mexico. 

When the war closed, he returned with the regiment to Bos¬ 
ton, and was discharged July 24, 1848. He then learned the 
trade of making gas-meters for the Boston Gas Light Company 
in Boston. 

In August, 1851, he started for California, by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama; went by steamer from New York to Cha- 
gres (this was before the railroad was made across the Isthmus); 
went up the Chagres River in a canoe to Cruces, and across 
from there to Panama on a mule; was ten days on the Isth¬ 
mus. He went from Panama to San Francisco on the old 
steamer Republic. Twenty-one miles below San Francisco, 
the steamer ran onto rocks, in the fog, and stove a hole in her, 
and the water rushed in and put the fires out. The fog soon 
cleared up, and passengers could see the shore, which was 
about five miles away. The purser went ashore in a boat, and 
with horses went to San Francisco for a boat to come and take 
passengers away. The vessel ran on the rocks about 11 
o’clock A. M. The next morning the steamer California came. 
The passengers had worked all the time since the steamer 
struck, pumping water to keep the vessel afloat. They 
expected the steamer that came would take them aboard, but 
instead, threw a rope and fastened to the wreck, and kept the 
passengers bailing water until they got to the city, where they 
arrived on the 5th of October, 1851, twenty-one days from 
Panama and thirty-eight days from New York. 

In a few days he went to the mines in Nevada County, and 
lived near Nevada City, on Gold Run, about one year; then 
moved to Rough and Ready, same county. He had some very 
good claims on Gold Run, also on Randolph Hill near Rough 
and Ready. In 1855 he moved to Timbuctoo, Yuba County, 
where he was an owner in a hydraulic claim known as the 
“Babb Claim,” and worked the claim until 1861, and made 
some money. He came near losing his life in it—was caved 
on and taken home for dead, but brought to life. He was cov¬ 
ered several feet deep with earth and water, was badly bruised, 
and had a leg broken. 

In 1860 he came to Tulare County and bought the land on 
•which he now lives, but did not move here until October, 1861. 
He had some fencing done, and fruit trees and grape vines put 
out in 1863. 

He had all the fruit and grapes wanted for family use, and 
raised wheat, barley, oats, corn, sweet and Irish potatoes, and 


almost every variety of fruit. At one time he had over sixty 
varieties of grapes. He has on the farm now about 40 head 
of horned cattle, 150 sheep, 5 horses, 20 hogs, 35 acres in 
alfalfa; has 316 acres of land, seven miles from Visalia, same 
distance from the railroad, and one-fourth of a mile fi’om 
Farmersville Post-office. A school house is on a corner of the 
farm, one-fourth of a mile from the house, and church is held 
in it every Sunday. 

He was married to Miss Zanetta D. Whitney in 1853, who 
was a native of Waltham, Massachusetts; had three children: 
Edward M., Minnie, and Netta Jefferds. His wife died in 
1868. In 1869 he married Mrs. Nellie Reed, widow of Tilden 
Reed, and they have one daughter, Nellie, now ten years of 
age. 

In 1871 he was elected County Assessor of Tulare County, 
was re-elected several times, and held the office eleven years, 
until 1883. 

John S. Urton. —No one has been more prominently con¬ 
nected with the work of laying out, by complete and accurate 
surveys, the present irrigating ditches, not only of the Mussel 
Slough District, but of a large part of Tulare and Fresno Coun¬ 
ties, than the subject of this sketch. John Samuel Urton was 
born October 13, 1844, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on 
his father’s farm, twelve miles east of Louisville, on the old turn¬ 
pike road to Lexington. He received his education from the 
neighborhood schools, and at Forest Academy, in charge of the 
noted teacher, Burr H. McCown. After completing his studies 
at this noted school, he began the work of a civil engineer at 
the age of twenty, on some of the railroads of his State, 
under Henry Nettelroth. In 1870, he went West and was en¬ 
gaged for three years in Government employ, surveying the 
public domain in Kansas and Indian Territory. 

In the spring of 1873,Mr. Urton came to California, and after 
spending several months in San Francisco and in traveling over 
different parts of the State,he located in the Mussel Slough coun¬ 
try in January, 1874,and has since that time been fully identified 
with the interests of Tulare County. His first work in engi¬ 
neering here was during the following summer on the Settler’s 
Ditch taken from the north bank of Cross Creek, one of the 
lower channels of Kaweah River, about two miles above the 
railroad crossing, and running through the eastern portion of 
his district, with a length of about eighteen miles. This ditch 
being satisfactorily completed in the fall of 1875, he was em¬ 
ployed that fall on the Lakeside Ditch, taken from the same 
stream some six miles below the point of diversion of the Set¬ 
tler’s Ditch. This was finished in the winter of 1875 and 1876. 

In the fall of 1875 he also took charge of the People’s Ditch 
as general superintendent and engineer, and this important work 
was completed the following winter. This ditch, having its 
head-gate on the south bank of King's River, a mile below the 
railroad bridge, near Kingsburg, has a capacity of 150 cubic 










BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


185 


feet per second, and is not only the largest, but is generally 
considered the best located, most thoroughly completed, and, 
all things considered, the most valuable canal that irrigates the 
noted and productive Mussel Slough lands. Its entire length, 
including its three main branches, is 45 miles, enabling it to 
cover a larger area than any cf the seven ditches of this region. 
While this work was progressing, Mr. Urton also surveyed the 
Emigrant Ditch, Fresno County, which takes its water from the 
north bank of Cole Slough, two miles below its source. The 
latter is the most northerly channel of Lower King’s River, 
leaving the latter a mile and a half below the Kingsburg Bridge. 
This ditch, with a length of 15 miles and a westerly course, 
irrigated the Wild Flower District. 

During the year from the fall of 1876 to 1877,he was engaged 
in surveying the Kingsburg and Centerville Canal in Fresno, 
which heads on the north bank of King’s River, a mile below 
the Church head-gate, and has a capacity of 150 cubic feet, and a 
total length of about 60 miles. Since then, he has been con¬ 
stantly employed in various important irrigating enterprises, 
such as the Kaweah and Tulare Canal, Wutchumna Canal, and 
a number of smaller ditches in Tulare and Fresno Counties. 

His last and most extensive work is that on the large ’76 
Canal! This truly great enterprise was begun by his prelim¬ 
inary surveys in April, 1882, and the main portion of it was 
completed sufficiently to receive the water of King’s River by 
the middle of May, 1883. 

During these thirteen months, an amount of work was ac¬ 
complished that far exceeds any similar enterprise in the State. 
This mammoth canal has its point of diversion on the south bank 
of King’s River, where that large stream debouches from its deep 
canon in the Sierra Nevada, thus surveying its water supply 
higher up than any of the numerous canals from that river. For 
the first five miles it uses a natural channel of the river to its 
huge head-gate; it is 100 feet wide and furnished with 20 five- 
foot gates. For thenext eightmiles, sweeping around the western 
bases of Bare Mountain and Campbell Mountain, the chief ar¬ 
tificial portion of the canal has been constructed through gravel 
beds, sand-stones, conglomerates, marls, and dry bogs, with a 
uniform width of 100 feet on the bottom, and a uniform fall of 
18 inches per mile. The lower levee, the main and sometimes 
the only one along the mountain bases, is eight feet wide on 
top, furnishing a good wagon road 20, and even 26 feet high in 
places, and varying in width of base from 40 to 100 feet. The 
construction of this vast work required the displacement of not 
far from 500,000 cubic yards of earth, at an expenditure of 
about $80,000. 

This canal, with its large capacity of 700 cubic feet per sec¬ 
ond, discharges its vast volume of water at present—after con- 
veying it by means of an immense dam across Wahtoke Creek, 
300 feet long and 26 feet high—into the old channel of Button- 
willow Creek; thence after a meandering course of 25 miles 


into Cross Creek, and thence to Tulare Lake, about 50 miles 
from its source. 

Though all of the “ ’76 Canal ” yet constructed, and all of the 
large tract of its upper lands to be irrigated, are in Fresno 
County, it is designed, and has the capacity to irrigate a vast 
acreage of fii'st-class lands in Tulare County, east and north of 
the Southern Pacific Railroad; and one of its ultimate objects 
is to consolidate into one system all of the numerous irrigating 
ditches in the northern and western parts of Tulare County, 
including those in the Mussel Slough District. 

To Mr. Urton’s experience and energy as a competent engi¬ 
neer is to be ascribed a large part of the credit due to the enter¬ 
prising company undertaking this large work, for its rapid 
execution and its ultimate success. 

John Shelley Robinson, of Grangeville, was born in 
Fayette County, Indiana, April 20, 1830. His early years 
were spent on his father’s farm, and his only advantages 
of education were those afforded at that time by the country 
schools. In 1850 he removed to Rush County in the same 
State, and there, on October 2d of the following year, he was 
married to Miss Eveline Thomas, his present wife. Soon after 
his marriage, he went to Monroe County, Iowa, and after 
farming there several years he removed with his family to 
Cooper County, Missouri. 

In the spring of 1857, after two years’ residence there, he 
started across the plains for California, with a party of emi¬ 
grants, bringing his family and household effects in an ox- 
wagon, or by “ ox express,” as he terms it. In a trip of 
four months over the old emigrant route, their party had no 
trouble with the Indians. They arrived in Sacramento County 
on the 25th of August, 1859. That fall he located in Sonoma 
County, four miles southwest of Santa Rosa. After engaging 
in farming there for a year, he next settled in Lake County in 
the fall of 1860, the year in which that county was organized. 
In 1861 he removed to the neighborhood of Fail-field, Solano 
County, and located on 160 acres of the Suscol Rancho. He 
was one among some 300 settlers who were dispossessed in 
1865, by a special Act of Congress. 

Losing the home he had sought to secure, he next went to 
Santa Cruz County, and lived for three years near Soquel, 
engaged in farming and teaming. In 1868 he tried farming 
near Hollister, and for two successive years lost his crops. 

In 1871, he moved eastward, and first crossed the Coast 
Mountains to Los Banos, Merced County, and after trying 
unsuccessfully to farm in that then dry and unirrigated region 
for two years, he brought his family to Tulare County, locat¬ 
ing on some of the land he now owns near Grangeville. The 
first year he sowed only twenty acres of wheat, spending much 
of the time in working on the irrigating ditches, which were 
to be the salvation of the Mussel Slough lands, and which were 
constructed by his fellow-farmers and himself by a hard strug- 







186 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


gle and well-known privations, without any capital but the 
labor of themselves and teams. He aided in making both the 
Last Chance and the Lower King’s River Ditches. 

During the succeeding ten years of his residence here, he 
has farmed extensively, depending chiefly on wheat. Of this 
fine crop, he sowed, in 1875, 300 acres; in 187G, 700 acres; in 
1877, 1,000 acres; in 1878, 1,100 acres. He and his son 
Wesley and two sons-in-law have since continued to farm 
annually 1,200 acres, all in wheat but 100 acres, devoted to 
alfalfa, pastures, and orchards. 

In 1878, their 1,100 acres of wheat yielded them 33,000 
bushels of the very best grain. Their average yield for the 
tea years is not far from 30 bushels per acre, ranging in 
different years from 25 to 50 bushels on various fields, accord¬ 
ing to season. 

His land, which was cai’efully selected by him, is some of 
the best of the now justly noted Mussel Slough lands—a dark 
sandy loam, comparatively free from salt grass, and alkali 
spots. He now has a thrifty young orchard and vineyard, 
producing annually, in great abundance and of finest quality, 
peaches, apples, pears, plums, apricots, almonds, grapes, and 
blackberries. 

In stock, he has raised mainly what is needed for home use, 
except hogs, of which he has in some years sent to market as 
many as 200 head. 

In 1881-82, he invested about $15,000 in property in Los 
Angeles County, twelve miles southeast of the city of Los 
Angeles, where he proposes to establish a dairy ranch. 

Mr. Robinson has seven children living, four sons and three 
daughters, two of the latter married, Mary E. to John Malcom, 
and Martha E. to F. M. Parrish, who are farming near Han¬ 
ford. His oldest son, John Wesley Robinson, is farming near 
his father’s home place. Mr. Robinson’s entire family are at 
present farming 1,342 acres, in the Mussel Slough country and 
in Los Angeles County. Miss Emma, his youngest daughter, 
is attending the University of Southern California, at Los 
Angeles, as are his second and third sons, Frank E., and Edwin 
S. Robinson. His youngest son, Chester, now seven years old, 
is at home with his parents. 

Mr. Robinson is well known throughout Tulare County as 
a type of one of its most successful farmers. 

H. P. Gray furnishes us with the following interesting 
autobiography of his life, which we give in full:— 

“I was born in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, in April, 1841; 
moved to Rock County, Wisconsin. This I believe was in 
1847. Then the Indian trails were quite fresh in that county. 
After a stay of about six years, we emigrated to the then 
Territory of Minnesota. On our settlement there we found the 
Indians and trappers our only neighbors. Our stay in that 
State lasted for about seven years, at the end of which time, at 
the age of about eighteen, with my father, A. W. Gray, now of 


Lernoore, and two brothers, I started for Pike’s Peak- After 
wending our wav for many hundred miles in that direction, 
meeting tnanv returning teams whose men were often hollow- 
eyed and hungry-looking, we turned our course towards the 
sunny land of California. Made the journey in three months 
with an ox-team, after being menaced by Indians and Mormons 
more than once. Arriving at Placerville, or old Hangtown, 
my father left my next older brother and myself after handing 
us $20.00 and assuring us that we had a splendid prospect before 
us, and while in tears on his part, he mounted the stage for 
Sacramento, to be off on the next steamer for San Francisco, 
thence home, we loaded our backs with blankets, flour, bacon, 
sugar, and other eatables, as also frying-pan, coffee-pot, together 
with other things necessary for the support of life, and with 
the “splendid prospect” before us, we hied away to the hills— 
away in pursuit of the nugget and gold-dust. 

“But our nugget was small, and the gold-dust scarce, and 
after sufficient stay in the mountains, now in the shaft, now 
over the sluice boxes, we settled with our good station merchant 
by giving over what cash and personal effects we possessed 
for the supplies we had received, and abandoned the log cabin 
in the gulch forever, and turned our face toward the valley, 
without acquaintances or friends, sometimes with money,-but 
oftener without, taking long stretches across the State in pur¬ 
suit of this or that and always something better. But let it 
be understood not as a tramp, for every man in those days 
would scorn to take anything though he were hungry that he 
could not pay for. And with my experience on the farm, in 
the lumber woods, on the river drive, in the army under the 
good flag of the Union, as a freight teamster to the mountains, 
or whatever betided me, I learned to paddle my own canoe. 

“ In the fall of 1869, I thought to seek for a location, where 
the best opportunities for securing a home had not already 
passed away as in my then present locality, San Joaquin 
Count}'. And when on my journey southward I broke through 
the Kingston timber, and looked upon the plain of the ‘Mussel 
Slough ’ country, with its rich alluvial soil covered with filaree 
and clover upon which countless numbers of cattle, sheep, and 
horses were subsisting, with its surrounding belts of timber 
and King’s River skirting the western side, I proclaimed the 
prospects good and located upon the homestead here shown, 
and taking up adjoining lands, we, that is my brother 
Reuben and myself as partners, prepared for farming on quite 
a large scale. The stock men who were then kings and 
princes in this section, called by more than once and insinuated 
that it never rained in this county. 

“ We supposed that if they knew that our errand here was to 
make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before, 
that we were the ones to be benefited, and with this consider¬ 
ation we let the matter drop out of mind. However, during 
the next two years few drops of rain fell, and so little grass or 
grain grew that more than one set of settlers abandoned this 











_ ft _ 

ELLIOT T.UTH+21 WONT ST. ft 

PLANO ORANGE GROVE* RESIDENCE OF DEMING GIBBONS, PLANO, TULARE CO. CAL. 




















































































































































































































































BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


187 


locality during that time, and the bleaching bones of the once 
beautiful herds of stock were visible everywhere. Those who 
had withstood this trying ordeal, began to realize that irriga¬ 
tion was necessary, and that with it, this locality could be made 
to blossom as the rose. 

“ Then every man except those who never do their part 
under such circumstances, gathered to the banks of King’s River, 
with fat teams and poor teams, and some with none. Some 
with grain feed and some without save the grass on the banks 
of the river. Commodious ditches were built near or quite 
across the plains of Tulare Lake at an enormous expense. The 
result was that mortgages fell thick and heavy upon the 
homesteads of the settlers, falling so heavy on many that it 
wrested the homes from those whose ambition and energ}^ had 
made the country. Your humble contributor was not exempt 
from some of this experience which, when combined with other 
evils that overtook him, brought somewhat of distress upon his 
affairs. The question now arose concerning the repeal of the 
old fence law. Our own interest caused us to take something 
of an active part in this agitation. 

“ Hon. Lipton Lindsy, of Visalia, was our man and we worked 
in and out of convention for his election to the State Senate. 
This was a time when even Democrats forgot party fealty, and 
voted independent for local interest. After this election, we 
in common with all farmers rejoiced in the repeal of the fence 
law. This was a severe shock to the finances of the stock 
interest, but the county soon more than regained its wonted 
prosperity under the careful hand of the husbandman. But 
what of our experience with farming with irrigation ? 

“ In 1875 I sowed 320 acres of alfalfa, then probably the 
largest field in the county. Our farming at this time aside 
from alfalfa consisted in wheat culture together with adjoining 
pastoral lands, altogether about 2,000 acres. In the winter of 
1877, we wintered about 1,200 sheep, mostly fat wethers, upon 
the farm here shown, which was the alfalfa farm. Sustained 
that winter in our stock interest a loss of 810,000, owing to 
a crash in the sheep interest. This severe loss, with others 
previous, involved us to the amount of 823,000. Calling 
our creditors together and showing them the situation, they 
signed a contract giving us further time for payment with¬ 
out molestation. But afterwards our lands were all sold out 
by the Sheriff under a foreclosed mortgage, but were all 
redeemed at the last moment of time. 

“ In the summer of 1877, upon this farm, was raised alfalfa 
seed, hay, and grazing to the value of 814,790, after giving 
one-fourth beside this for the harvesting and tending of the 
same. This was a welcome income considering our many losses. 
About this time my brother and myself dissolved partnership, 
except in our unsettled liabilities. And with the natural pro¬ 
ductiveness of the soil and the benefit of irrigation, we have 
been enabled to overcome the financial difficulties that once 
surrounded us. 


“In 1881 I sold all the land except this farm of 330 odd 
acres shown in the sketch. It is located from railroad depot 
three miles; from school, two and one-quarter; church, three; 
post-office, three. About one-fourth of the farm is devoted to 
vineyard and orchard of pears, prunes, apricots, peaches, and 
apples. The grapes consist wholly of the best kind of raisin 
grapes. 

“In 1878 married Miss Emma C. Hurd, a native of Jersey 
1 County, Illinois, and a teacher by profession. Two boys 
I enliven our household, Douly Clifford and Dallas Hurd. And 
now in conclusion of these lines I will say that after all the 
changing experience of my previous life upon this homestead, 
with her who is the brighest and best, with our children ever 
near, busy with the affairs that concern me, with the Bible as 
the guide of life, I willingly bide my time till the Lifegiver 
come, or I be called to rest.’’ 

Thomas Jefferson McQuiddy was born in Wood¬ 
ford County, Kentucky, on the 6th of March, 1828. His 
father was of Scotch descent; his mother belonged to an old 
family of the State of Virginia. When he was twelve years 
old, his parents removed to Bedford County, Tennessee, where 
he received a useful English education at Bexed Academy, a 
school under the control of the Campbellite, or Christian Church, 
of which he became a member when thirteen years of age, 
and he has ever since continued to be actively interested in its 
operation. Eight yeai's afterwards, or at the age of twenty- 
one, Mr. McQuiddy married Miss Jane M. Ruth. Ten children 
were the fruit of this union, of whom six are living. 

Soon after their marriage the young couple removed to north¬ 
western Missouri, where, in 1859, Mr. McQuiddy was elected 
Sheriff of Nodaway County, on the Democratic ticket. At 
the outbreak of the war, after having first opposed secession, 
he joined the Confederate cause, and served as Major of cav¬ 
alry. In the winter of 1863, he was arrested in Tennessee, 
while on secret service, but managed to escape. His wife died 
soon afterwards, and in 1864, Major McQuiddy left the army 
to look after his children, who were with his father in Ten¬ 
nessee. In 1866, he was married to Miss Mary J. Hoffman, his 
present wife, a native of Tennessee, of German descent. 

For the next six years he remained in charge of his father’s 
farm until he removed to California by the overland railroad 
in 1874. 

He settled on railroad land, in the Mussel Slough District of 
Tulare County, and during the past nine years has assisted his 
fellow settlers in the attempt to secure their homes and his 
own, on the basis of their occupants being actual settlers. 
Failing to accomplish this by negotiations with the railroad 
company, he has led in a systematic and determined opposition 
to the company’s claims by all legal means. 

In 1880, this led to his indictment, in company with eight 
others, for their alleged resistance to United States Marshal 







188 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


Poole. Major McQuiddy took measures to escape arrest. Five 
of his comrades, who surrendered themselves to the authorities, 
underwent trial in the United States District Court at San 
Francisco, and were imprisoned for eight months in the San 
Jose jail. 

Major McQuiddy succeeded in evading arrest for two years, 
and in the campaign of 1882, he was made the candidate of 
the Greenback Labor Party of California, for Governor, by a 
unanimous vote, being their first candidate in California for 
that position. 

When returning from the State Convention in San Fran¬ 
cisco, where he had remained openly for some days unmolested, 
he was arrested at Gilroy by a Deputy Marshal, on the old 
indictment upon which he had previously escaped arrest. His 
trial before the United States Court at San Francisco, was set 
for November 27, 1882, but went over to the January term, 
and has since been indefinitely postponed. 

It is a fact worthy of record that when Marshal Poole, Dep¬ 
uty Dunlap, and their assistants, visited Major McQuiddy’s 
ranch near Hanford in May, 1881, to dispossess him and place 
a railroad representative in charge of the land, Major Mc¬ 
Quiddy and his family were absent, but on the back of a 
pamphlet placed at the gate these words were found written:— 

‘‘When courts are so corrupt that I have to leave my home 
to ex-convicts to satisfy the greed of a thieving corporation, 
then I bid adieu to this Government, and take my chances 
with those who know nothing of civilization. 

(Signed) T. J. McQuiddy.” 

It is also worthy of note, that Mr. 0. C. Jackson of Sacra¬ 
mento, who was formally placed in possession of Major Mc¬ 
Quiddy’s ranch, immediately left the place and the county 
with the Marshal’s party, and has never returned. Meanwhile, 
Major McQuiddy and his wife, when they returned home that 
evening from a visit to a neighbors, found everything in the 
house about as they left it, a large party of men with their 
wagons and teams having returned whatever had been removed, 
soon after the Marshal’s party left, and he has remained 
in undisputed possession ever since, that is, for more than two 
years. 

When, in 1882, he became the Greenback candidate for 
Governor, the usual flood-gates of political abuse were opened 
upon him, and his motives were impugned. Even the prepos¬ 
terous and utterly groundless charge was brought against him, 
that he had compromised with the railroad company and bought 
his land of them; and that too, although it was well known 
that the railroad managers had positively refused to sell to him 
or any one else, the claims of himself and several other leaders 
in this determined resistance to what they deemed to be rail¬ 
road aggression, and wrong. Following is an extract from his 
published answer to some of these aspei’sions, and they indicate 
the spirit which lias animated him:— 

“I will give some reasons why I am a candidate: I am a 


native born American citizen, and have a perfect right to hold 
office, if this is a free republic. And I had the manhood to 
stand by my home which I had’ made comfortable with years 
of toil and privations. I refused to surrender it, and, as 
earlier in life, when called upon by the Governor of the State 
in which I lived, I did not hesitate to step forward to defend 
what I believed to be right, so now I do not hesitate to defend 
what I think is right. The National Greenback Labor Party 
is a party with both National and State organization, and with 
a platform of sound principles that I indorse in full. They 
had aright to hold a convention and make nominations,‘without 
any collusion with any party or persons, which they did. 
They gave to me without my solicitation, the nomination for 
Governor, with the prison bars before me, and emissaries in 
both the old parties opposing me and impugning my motives. 
They did this believing that I had the manhood to stand by 
and vindicate the principles of the party; and this I shall do, 
God being my help. I do not hesitate to vindicate what I be¬ 
lieve to be right, and to show the corruption of party leaders.” 

Major McQuiddy’s most intimate friends and all fair minded 
men who know the facts in his case, are sure that no man has 
ever been truer to any cause than he has always been, and 
continues to be, to the interests of his fellow settlers in their 
heroic struggle to secure their homes on an equitable basis. 

John W. Loyd is in the mercantile business in Porterville in 
connection with J. F. Field. He was born in Arkansas and 
came to California when a boy with his step-father and family, 
and settled near Napa. He came to Tulai'e County in 1866, 
and has lived there ever since. 

He served as a private in the United States Army during 
the War of the Rebellion, and was stationed at Visalia and 
afterwards was in Inyo County to quell Indian disturbances. 
He relates a case of Indian character when one was captured 
by them, and who would refuse to answer questions even when 
threatened with shooting, and a gun cocked in his face he failed 
to flinch, but when his own bow and arrows were brought to 
bear on him he yielded. 

After this Mr. Loyd engaged in the sheep business but failed 
to make it a success. He then run a stage line with the mails 
from Glenville, Kern County, to Visalia for about four years, 
from 1878 to 1882. 

He has thirty acres of land, of a sandy loam well adapted 
to fruit, corn, or grain of any kind. It lies at south end of 
Tule Bridge at what was the old town of Vandalia. 

He married Miss Jennie Campbell in 1869, who was a native 
of Santa Clara County. They have six children, named: 
Ozro, Thomas, Mimi, Edgar, Webster, and Babe Loyd. The 
family live at the farm. 

In 1882 he was nominated for Sheriff of the county by the 
Republican Party, was indorsed by the M. E. Church, Good 
Templars, Working Men’s Order, Christian Alliance, etc. His 





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


189 


chances looked good for election, but he was quite badly beaten 
by Mr. Martin, of Mussel Slough, the Democratic nominee. 
He has since that engaged in mercantile business as first re¬ 
lated. 

John H. Shore came from Washington, Missouri, where he 
was born, September 6, 1841, and resided there until 1852, 
when he came across the plains to the land of gold and settled 
in Santa Clara County. He went to Oregon and Washington 
Territory in 1862, and to Sinaloa, Mexico, in 1863-64. Came 
to Fresno County in 1864, where he resided ten years. He 
moved to Tulare County, in 1874, where he at present is located, 
and is engaged in the business of stock-raising and general 
farming. He owns 500 acres of land, and raises hogs princi¬ 
pally, generally having 200 or 300 at a time. 

Mr. Shore was one of the Board of Supervisors of Tulare 
County in 1880 and 1881. 

He married Miss Susan Haun in 1867, also from Missouri. 
He has seven children, named Emma Eugenia, born March 23, 
1868; Elton Eugene, December 6, 1869; Isabella Jennie, June 
21, 1872; Louis Henry, June 24, 1874; John Elias, August 5, 
1876; Ellen Susan, August 17, 1S78; Seth Clarence, December 
16, 1880. 

James William Abert Wright was born in Colum¬ 
bus, Lowndes County, Mississippi, July 28, 1834. His father 
was Rev. David Wright, of the Presbyterian Church, a native 
of Massachusetts, who at an early age went to the wilds of 
Mississippi about the year 1820, as a missionary to the Choc¬ 
taw Indians, at Mayhew Station. His mother’s maiden name 
was Eliza Abert. She was born at Shepherdstown, Virginia, 
and had accompanied her brother, afterwards Col. Charles H. 
Abert, to Columbus, among its earliest settlers. In 1840 his 
father died, and having the misfortune to lose all his property, 
including several valuable slaves, by the crash of the “ Wild 
Cat” Banks in 1837-38, he left his widow penniless to provide 
for herself and their only surviving child as best she could. 
For fourteen years, till 1854, she gave music lessons in Pickens 
County, Alabama, and in Columbus, thereby securing a sup¬ 
port and a comfortable home in the latter place, and, with 
some aid from friends, she laid the foundation of a good 
classical education for her son. She sought constantly to instill 
into him habits of industry, having him do occasional farm 
work, and when fifteen years old, he spent his summer vaca¬ 
tion of three months at work in a cabinet shop, the vacation 
of the next year being occupied by writing in the Chancery 
Clerk’s office, while his muscles were farther exercised by 
garden work, and by chopping all the wood for home use. 

In January, 1853, he was sent, by assistance of relatives, to 
the noted high school of Prof. Henry Tutwiler, at Greene 
Springs, Alabama. He became assistant teacher there from 
October, 1854, to July, 1855, thus earning most of the means 
necessary to complete a college course. In August, 1855, he 


entered the Junior Class at Princeton, New Jersey, and gradu¬ 
ated in the class of ’57—sixty members—as valedictorian. 
That fall he returned to Alabama, and having chosen teaching 
above all other professions, he assisted Professor Tutwiler con¬ 
tinuously in his school, until the second year of the war. In 
August, 1859, he married the Professor’s oldest daughter, Miss 
Margaret Tutwiler The fruit of this union is four chil¬ 
dren living, a daughter and three sons. 

Although in the beginning of our fierce civil conflict, he 
voted with a majority of the voters of Alabama against seces¬ 
sion, when the inevitable war came and had lasted for a year, 
and when it was incumbent on every able-bodied man on both 
sides to take up arms, he raised a company in the spring of 
’62, under a commission from Jeff. Davis. He was elected 
Captain, having prepared himself for a soldier’s duties by 
becoming a cadet at the University of Alabama, in Tusca¬ 
loosa, and sharing their camp life in the summer of ’61. 

Becoming Company H of the Thirty-sixth Alabama Infan¬ 
try, his command took an active part, until its surrender, May 
4, 1865, when only six men were left in his company, under 
Generals Buckner, Bragg, Joe Johnston, Hood, and Dick Tay¬ 
lor, in their rough campaigns and numerous battles in Tennes¬ 
see, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. Being severely 
wounded in the right hip, at the battle of Missionary Ridge, 
November 25, 1863, Captain Wright was a prisoner of war in 
the hospitals at Chattanooga, the State’s Prison at Nashville, 
and Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio, until he effected his 
escape from the cars near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 
27, 1864, while en route with several hundred fellow-prisoners 
to Fort Delaware, near Philadelphia. Making his way to 
friends in the latter city, he hastened by train, through 
New York and Vermont, to Canada; thence down the St. 
Lawrence River and by sea to the Bermuda Islands; and 
thence on the blockade-runner Lilian , under Capt. John 
Newlen Maflit, to Wilmington, North Carolina, returning to 
Dixie June 4, 1864. Reporting for duty at Richmond, he 
was ordered to rejoin his regiment at Atlanta, which he did, 
after forty-five days’ leave with his family in Alabama. 

For the last nine months of service, he acted as field-officer, 
often having command of his regiment, and near the close of 
the war was made Major, in the regular order of promotion. 

The war ended,' he declined an excellent offer to begin the 
practice of law, and in preference, returned to his old post, 
where he continued to assist Professor Tutwiler in his Greene 
Springs School until the spring of 1868. Wishing then to 
seek a more active life and a home for his family and friends 
in the “far West,” he came to California, by way of New 
York and the Panama route, on the steamers Guiding Star 
and Nevada , landing in San Francisco June 13, 1868. Com¬ 
ing at once to Stockton and joining Southern friends who had 
preceded him, their party, with whom were Judge S. A. 
Holmes and Mr. L. A. Sledge, now. of Fresno County, came at 











190 


BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CITIZENS. 


once by private conveyances over the then wild plains to 
Fresno County, and located the lands which afterwards formed 
the Alabama Settlement. Purchasing lands for Professor 
Tutwiler and himself here, and also in Stanislaus County, near 
where Turlock now is, he began farming that fall in Stanis¬ 
laus, and continued farming there for six years, as those lands 
were then most convenient to market. Sowing to wheat and 
barley the first winter 780 acres, he increased his acreage 
each year, mostly on rented land and borrowed capital, until, 
for the crops of 1873 and 1874, he had in 4,000 acres of 
grain in Stanislaus and Merced Counties. 

When the Grange-tide began to sweep over California in 

1873, Captain Wright was made Master of Turlock Grange at ' 
its organization in June, and on the 15th of July following 
he was elected Master of the State Grange of California, when 
it was organized at Napa City. He served in this position and 
as State Lecturer until October, 1876, when he resigned his 
official duties, as the private interests of his business and his 
family required his undivided attention. As a State Grange 
official, he attended four successive sessions of the National 
Grange; in 1874, at St. Louis, where he became the author of 
their “ Declaration of Purposes;” in 1875, at Charleston, South 
Carolina, and at Louisville, Kentucky; and in 1876 in Chicago, 
being sent between the last two sessions on important busi¬ 
ness to Germany, England, and Scotland, as Commissioner of 
the National Grange to Europe. 

On account of a succession of unfavorable seasons, coupled 
with low prices for wheat, high rates of interest, and high 
prices for everything which farmers had to buy, Captain 
Wright became financially embarrassed, by his farming opera¬ 
tions on the dry sand-plains of Stanislaus, as did hundreds of 
other grain farmers of San Joaquin Valley at that date. 
With a prqspect for irrigation on his Fresno laud, which a sad 
experience of six years had convinced him was absolutely nec¬ 
essary for permanent success in farming in any part of the 
great valley where he had cast his lot, he removed all his farm¬ 
ing interests to Fresno County, near Borden, in December, 

1874. Here he put in three more crops on 960 acres of his 
own land, renting his ranch in the winter of 1876-77, but to 
no purpose, for neither crop paid expenses. His hope for the 
indispensable irrigation was disappointed, except for 100 acres 
the first season. The reason for this was that the canal from 
the Fresno River, on which his land depended for water, was 
owned by a corporation that was unfriendly to Captain 
Wright, on account of his Grange record and other anti-mo¬ 
nopoly work, and which at best was inclined to allow few 
lands except their own to be irrigated. The result of his nine 
years’ struggle for success in farming on the arid plains of 
San Joaquin Valley was, that all his property was swept from 
him in 1877, under mortgages, leaving burdensome debts be¬ 
sides; and he was compelled to “begin life anew,” from “bed¬ 
rock,” as our California parlance has it. 

To take this fresh start, he came to the irrigated lands of 
Mussel Slough District, and located in Hanford, in June, 1878, 
feeling that he realized here, for the first time in California, 
his ideal of a mixed husbandry on land, systematically irri¬ 
gated by independent and enterprising ranchers on small farms. 


Since his location among the farmers of Mussel Slough, he has 
eno-ao-ed in a general agency for fire and life insurance, news- 
papers and books, and as correspondent by telegraph and oth¬ 
erwise for the San Francisco daily papers. 

Learning, soon after his removal to Tula're County, the nat¬ 
ure of the contest of many settlers here and in Fresno County 
for their homes, as against railroad claims, aud being fully sat¬ 
isfied of the justice of their cause, he has sought by his corre¬ 
spondence, and in every other way—though he has not a per¬ 
sonal interest in an acre ol land anywhere—to assist the strug¬ 
gling settlers in their long and heroic contest for an equitable 
adjustment of their claims. 

For twenty years past the subject of this sketch has been 
known as i correspondent of various newspapers and period¬ 
icals of California and elsewhere, on the live and stirring 
issues of the day, most usually over his own signature, but 
often editorially, and under mox-e than one no-a cle plume, the 
chief of which is “Ralph Rambler.” 

During his fifteen years’ residence in California, he has con¬ 
stantly exerted himself to aid in developing its resources, and 
to advance the general interests of its people. 

R. L. Porter Mickle is a native of the State of Tennessee, 
and was born in Nashville, Davidson County, November 23, 
1849, being the eldest son of Dr. J. G. and Sallie A. E. Mickle. 
He resided in or near Nashville until about 1857, when, with 
his parents, he moved to western Kentucky, there remaining 
two years; he thence moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and 
would doubtless have lived there to date had it not been for 
the failure of his father’s health, which forced him to seek 
health and happiness in other climes—that of his native State, 
near Murfreesborough, Tennessee, and eventually returning and 
settling in western Kentucky. From there he started, on May 
12th, to seek his fortune in the Golden West, bringing his 
wife, who has always been a helpmate and comforting com¬ 
panion. He came by way of the Central Pacific Railroad to 
Sacramento, thence to Lemoore, and thence, after a short time 
there in the butcher business, he went to Hanford in July, 
1880, and engaged in the same business. He married Miss 
Lies Angela Lovelace in 1876, who was a native of Kentucky. 

Johm W. Youxg, the Tulare centinarian who now lives 
with one of his sons at Hanford, was 100 years old on the 10th 
of July, 1882. He was born in New Jersey, about twenty 
miles north of Trenton. He remembers distinctly the death 
of General Washington in December, 1799. His father was 
captain of the “ Jersey Blue Horse” in the Revolutionary War, 
and was one of the invincible command that crossed the Dela¬ 
ware and captured the Hessians at Trenton. Mr. Young 
retains his faculties wonderfully well, and relates with surpris¬ 
ing accuracy many incidents of his childhood and early life. 
His biography would make an interesting volume. He has 
now eighty grandchildren. He has chewed tobacco for 
seventy years, but has never smoked much. Though a mod¬ 
erate drinker till over seventy, he has been a total abstainer 
for over twenty years. He is a firm believer in the Bible, and 
reads it daily. He votes the Republican ticket. 



















THE NOTED HORSE “ ALTIMONT,” THE PROPERTY OF W. W. FOSTER. 



ALTIMONT 

Is a beautiful dark bay, slightly dappled, 17 hands high 
weighing 1,400 pounds in moderate condition. He is a horse of 
magnificent proportions, of unusually fine style and action, kind 
disposition, and while so powerfully built, he has a handsomely 
shaped head, bright, full, lustrous eyes, nicely arched neck, 
high on the withers, well-sloped shoulders, full through the 
heart, round in the barrel, closely ribbed, and well coupled back, 
deep stifle, with good sweep of hip to large strong hock and 
knees, being extraordinary heavy in joints and bone, while 
smooth and well defined throughout, which, when taken in 
connection with his rare combination of the choicest blood our 


most scientific breeders can boast of, will certainly insure him 
a high per cent, of trotters in his get, while he cannot well fail 
to get the high formed coach horse, or the most valuable horse 
of all-work. 

Altimont, very dark bay, bred by Wm. T. Withers, Lexing¬ 
ton, Kentucky, foaled April 24, 1878, lfif hands high, sired by 
Almont, sire of Piedmont, record 2:17j in fourth heat, and 15 
in 2:30 list. Dam, Belle Miller, by Blackwood, record 2:31 at 
three years old, sire Protine, record 2:18, 2d dam by Mem- 
brino Chief, sire of Lady Thorne, 2:18|; 3d dam by Hickory, 
thoroughbred; 4th dam by Camdenson of imp. Sarpedon, sire of 
Lexington’s dam; 5th dam by Cherokee, son of Sir Archy. 













































BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 


191 


George Thomas Thornton was born in Madison Countv, 
Tennessee, on his father’s farm, near Jackson, February 15, 
1836. In 1840 he went with his father’s family to Henry 
County, Missouri, and there remained on his father’s farm 
until twenty years of acre. Most of his time was occupied in 
farm work and duties. But he attended the district schools, 
and received the usual English education of that period. 

In April, 1856, he started from Boonville, Missouri, across 
the plains with the train of Alstot and Showalter. They had 
500 head of cattle, and two wagons and ox-teams, the party 
consisting of ten men, without any women or children. They 
had a successful journey, of five months, without any trouble 
with Indians, and arrived at Cache Creek, in Yolo County, 
about the end of September. Mr. Thornton left at once for 
the mines in Nevada County, and after remaining and mining 
for three months at Woolsey’s Flat on the Middle Yuba, ho 
went to the neighborhood of Auburn, Placer County, and 
remained there four years, engaged constantly in Placer min¬ 
ing, with moderate success. 

In October, I860. Mr. Thornton removed to Tulare County, 
and worked on the stock r inch of Wm. T. Cole, on the north 
side of King’s River, near the present head of Cole Slough 
In June, 1863, he went to the south side of King’s River, and 
worked on the ranch of David Burris, near Burris’ Point, till 
the following April. In September, 1864, he formed a part¬ 
nership with Mr. Burris, in the stock business, and the next 
spring he purchased from A. P. Cromley his present home, ten 
miles northeast of Hanford, to which he has since added 
adjacent lands. Mr. Thornton, after fourteen years spent in 
stock-raising, has, for five years past, been one of the most 
extensive grain-raisers in the Mussel Slough District, and with 
his renters sows every year about 1,500 acres of wheat and 
barley. 

Mr. Thornton has never married, but is now turning his 
thoughts in that direction. 

Daniel Spangler is one of the earliest settlers of Tulare, a 
California pioneer, and withal, a man of high intelligence and 
sterling integrity. He was born in Pennsylvania, in 1828, and 
six or seven years later taken by his parents to Macon County 
Illinois, where the family permanently settled. The youth 
received such education as was imparted in the schools of that 
period. He pursued the even tenor of his way until 1846, 
when war was declared between Mexico and the United 
States, and young Spangler’s soul burned with patriotic ardor 
to participate in the conflict. Though not yet nineteen years 
of age, he enlisted as a private in the Fourth Regiment of 
Illinois Volunteers, Col. E. D. Baker, and with his com¬ 
panions in arms went forth to do battle for his country. Baker 
arrived with his regiment safely at Brazos Santiago, on the 
Gulf Jof Mexico, and then proceeded up the Rio Grande and 
then to Camargo, when he was ordered to return and join 


General Scott at Vera Cruz. Baker promptly obeyed the 
order, returned to Matamoras on the Rio Grande and thence 
marched overland to Victoria, where General Taylor was 
stopped in his advance by an order to return to Monterey. 
Colonel Baker with his command continued on to Tampico, 
and then by transports arrived before Vera Cruz participated 
in the bombardment and possession of the city. Proceeding 
on the road leading to the Halls of the Montezumas, young 
Spangler assisted in the conflict at the Puente Nacional and 
then in the great battle of Cerro Gordo. The Illinois Regi- 
ment, to which Spangler was attached, was disbanded, their 
term of enlistment having expired and “ the young hero covered 
with glory ” returned to his home in Illinois. Soon after his 
return home he married Miss Martha Rea, a young lady of 
much amiability and intellectual endowments. 

In the fall of 1848 the startling intelligence of the discovery 
of go d in California was announced to the people of the 
United States, with the additional news of the gold being 
found in great profusion and extracted with facility from a 
vast auriferous region. The wildest excitement prevailed, and 
persons of every class were busily engaged in preparing to 
start for the new El Dorado. In the latter part of 1849, leav¬ 
ing his wife and child comfortably situated in Illinois, Spangler 
started for California by water, but did not reach his destina¬ 
tion until some time in the following year, 1850. In 1852 he 
returned for his family and with them came by way of the 
Isthmus of Panama back to this country. After awhile he 
settled his family with the father of Mrs. Spangler, near San 
Jose. He repaired to Tuolumne County and engaged in min¬ 
ing for a few years. Years ago he settled at his present place 
on King’s River, where he has resided ever since and been 
engaged in the vocation of a farmer. At the time he settled 
here there were but three or four persons on King’s River. 

His home, as will be seen in the illustration, is surrounded 
by every convenience, such as out-buildings, wind-mill. The 
surroundings of the house exhibit the taste as well as prosperity 
of the owner. The yard is filled with shrubs and trees, and in 
front is a hedge of evergreens. At either side are orchards of 
a variety of fruit, as well as a thrifty vineyard of grapes. 
He keeps considerable stock and carries on a variety of farm¬ 
ing. His place justly receives the name of the “ pioneer farm.” 


Five Supervisor Districts. 

In July, 1882, the Board of Supervisors, in accordance with 
the requirements of the Political Code, re-districted the county, 
making five Supervisor districts, five road districts, and five 
Judicial townships. By this arrangement, each road district 
and Judicial township are the same size, and include the same 
territory as the Supervisor districts. 

Supervisor District No. 1 is bounded so as to include Tipton, 








192 


ELECTIONS HELD IN TULARE COUNTY. 


Woodville, Porterville, Saucelito, Frazier Valley, Mountain 
View, and White River Election Precincts. 

Supervisor District No. 2 is bounded so as to include Tulare, 
Farmersville, and Yokohl Election Precincts. 

Supervisor District No. 3 is bounded to include Visalia, 
Hamilton, Kaweah, and Mineral King Election Precincts. 

Supervisor District No 4 includes Grand View, Wilson, Sand 
Creek, Elbow, Venice, Ash Spring, and Forest Election Precincts. 

Supervisor District No. 5 includes Lemoore, Orangeville, 
Hanford, Excelsior, and Lake Side Election Precincts. 

VOTES CAST AT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN 1880. 

The following is the complete returns by precincts of the 
last Presidential Election in Tulare County, held in Novem¬ 
ber, 1880. 


NAMES OF PRECINCTS. 

PRESIDENT. 

CONGRESSMEN. 

James A. Garfield, R. 

W. S. Hancock, D . 

93 

o 

c 

p 

CL 

o 

£ 

o 

5 

o 

o 

Wallace Deach, D. 

J. F. Godfrey, G. 

Mineral King. 

14 

8 

13 

7 

2 

Kaweah. 

15 

10 

4 

10 

15 

Woodville. 

38 

85 

32 

76 

15 

Saucelito. 

18 

3 

13 


8 

Sand Creek. 

15 

39 

10 

39 

7 

Wilson . 

1 

12 

1 

12 

1 

Porterville . 

99 

126 

97 

121 

15 

Mountain View . 

10 

22 


8 

36 

White River . 

6 

27 

6 

27 


F orest. 

1 

11 

1 

11 


Ash Spring . 

6 

27 

5 

25 

3 

Excelsior. 

22 

35 

10 

16 

45 

Grangeville . 

56 

57 

41 

36 

57 

Tulare. 

92 

71 

84 

63 

18 

Hanford. 

109 

160 

62 

102 

135 

Venice. 

10 

39 

9 

37 

5 

Farmersville. 

64 

69 

57 

63 

19 

Yokohl. 

7 

14 

7 

14 


Visalia. 

208 

280 

201 

261 

32 

Hamilton. 

9 

35 

5 

27 

21 

Tipton. 

27 

23 

20 

20 

10 

Grandview. 

4 

5 

4 

4 

1 

Lemoore. 

78 

108 

51 

102 

52 

Elbow. 

10 

43 

8 

40 

6 

Total Vote. 

919 

1309 

741 

1121 

503 

Majorities. 


290 


380 









VOTES CAST AT ELECTION NOVEMBER, 1882. 


GOVERNOR. 

VOTES CAST. 


Morris M. Estee. 803 

George Stoneman. 1,566 

T. J. McQuiddy. 88 

Richard H. McDonald. 160 


MAJORITY. 

763 


COMPTROLLER. 


Wm. A. Davies. 880 

John P. Dunn. 1,551 

M. E. Morse. 72 

H. W. Rice. 116 


651 


RAILROAD COMMISSIONER. 

VOTES CAST. MAJORITY. 

E. M. Gibson. 654 

W. W. Foote..1,814 1,160 

A. D. Boren. 149 


BOARD OF EQUALIZATION. 


Chas. W. Dana. . . , 
John Markley .... 
J. S. Loveland . . . . 

SENATOR. 

982 

1,489 

70 

507 

Geo. F. Rice . 

P. Reddy . 

ASSEMBLYMAN. 

1,272 

1,329 

57 

F. H. Wales. 

*W. L. Morton. . . . 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY. 

1,189 

1,380 

191 

Oregon Sanders. . . 
A. B. DuBrutz . . . . 


1,435 

1,144 

291 

L. H. Douglass. . .. 

CLERK. 

803 


L. Gilroy . 

Wm. McQuiddy. . . 


1,515 

276 

712 

J. E. Denny . 

V 

Paschal Bequette . . 
John Goble . 

RECORDER. 

1,303 

1,288 

15 

F. G. Jeffords .... 

ASSESSOR. 

934 


Seth Smith . 


1,640 

706 

L. J. Morrow . 

W. W. Coughran . 

TREASURER. 

987 

1,623 

636 


SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 


H. F. Turner. 

C. H. Murphy. 


, 1,208 
. 1,387 

179 

Volney Baker. 

Thos. Creighton. 

SURVEYOR. 

925 
. 1,635 

710 

L. A. Rockwell. 

John F. Jordan. 

AUDITOR. 

. 1,088 
. 1,519 

431 

A. E. Hall. 

L. M. Lovelace. 

CORONER. 

965 
. 1,515 

550 

A. P. Merritt. 

H. A. Keener. 

TAX COLLECTOR. 

. 1,059 
. 1,565 

506 

J. W. Loyd. 

Wm. F. Martin . . . . 

SHERIFF. 

. 1,124 
. 1,491 

367 

Wm. R. Harris. 

SUPERVISOR. 

229 
. 278 

245 

204 

172 

355 

120 

109 
. 380 


S. M. Gilliam. 

Wm. H. Hammond . . 

A. M. Wright. 

James Barton. 

J. W. C. Pogue. 

Courtney Talbot . . . . 

John Cutler. 

S. E. Biddle. 


49 

41 

183 

11 


*Hon. VV. L. Morton died while the Legislature was in session, and, at a 
special election held, the Hon. A. J. Atwell was elected to fill the vacancy. 


























































































































STAGES AND RAILROADS COMPARED. 


193 


SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD. 


Means of Travel Before Railroads. 


The following advertisements show the routes of travel, as 
well as rates of fare, from Visalia, before the railroad was con¬ 
structed :— 

U. S. MAIL. . 

Telegraph Line Stages. 

FARE REDUCED AND SPEED INCREASED! 

On and after Wednesday, May 1, 1867, Stages leave Sau Jose as fol" 
lows:— 

MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS, AND FRIDAYS, 

On the arrival of the morning train of ears from San Francisco, for 
Gilroy, San Luis Ranch, 

Firebaughs, Kingston, 

Visalia, Tule River, 

White River, 

Linn’s Valley, 

Green Horn, 

Kernville, and 

Havilah. 

FARE THROUGH 

From San Francisco to Visalia.Twenty-five dollars. 

From San Francisco to Havilah - - -. Thirty-five dollars. 

Returning, leave Havilah alternate days. 

RUNNING TIME—48 HOURS. 

A. O. THOMS, Proprietor. 

San Francisco office, opposite Occidental Hotel, Bush Street. 

W. G. ROBERTS, Agent. 


UNITED STATES MAIL. 


CHANGE OF TIME. 

HORNITOS AND VISALIA LINE OF STAGES 

On and after May 1, 1868, Stages will leave Visalia on Tuesdays, Thurs¬ 
days, and Stturdays, for Smith’s Ferry, Centreville, Millerton, Fresno River, 
Buchanan Hollow, Mariposa Creek, Indian Gulch, and Hornitos, connecting 
with Fisher & Co.’s Stages from Stockton, at Hornitos, and with A. O. 
Thoms’ Stages for Kernville and the Clear Creek Mines, at Visalia. 

Returning, leav es Hornitos on alternate days until further notice. 

P. BENNETT, Proprietor. 


Toll Road Notice. 


On and after this date the following rates of toll will be charged on all 
freight teams running on Thomas’ Road to the Pinery, and not freighting from 
their mill:— 

One Span of horses and wagon $1 50 6 and 7 Span of horses and wagon 86 00 

Two “ “ “ “ 2 50 Horse and buggy 50 

Three “ “ “ 3 50 Saddle horse - 25 

Four ‘ ‘ “ “ “ 4 50 Loose stock .... 05 

Five “ “ “ “ 5 50 Pack-animals 25 

Freight teams are only charged one way, and no credit. 

J. H. THOMAS & BROTHER. 


In 1870 the railroad company branched off from Latbrop 
with a road running through the center of the county. This 
new road was called the Stockton and Visalia Division of the 
Central Pacific Railroad, and made its way through the heart 
of the southern part of the State. Along its route sprang up 
new towns and villages, thus changing the general character 
of the country and forming new business centers. 

This county has since the advent of the railroad developed 
into a rich agricultural l'egion. The large herds of cattle that 
once roamed over these plains have disappeared from view; the 
long horn of the Spanish steer is no longer visible. The farmer 
has taken the place of the vaquero; the plow the place of the 
lariat. The branding-iron and the raw-hide, the lasso and the 
rodeo, have become relics of the past. The first bright gleams 
of a glorious future are dawning over the people. This great 
valley has become a unit in interest and alike in feeling; the 
two conflicting interests—agriculture and grazing—no longer 
cross their swords in eternal warfare, but now they are united 
and led by a common interest. 

The railroad in the upper valley runs through what looks to 
be an interminable wheat-field. Wheat, wheat; nothing but 
wheat as far as the eye can reach over the plain in every direc¬ 
tion. Fields of two, three, and five thousand acres make but 
small farms. Here one man has 10,000; here another 20,000, 
all in wheat. In June the whole plain is one ocean of waving 
heads. As you look out and see mile after mile without a 
division fence, twenty or forty miles apparently in one field, 
you are lost in wonder. All this great yield must be moved 
out of the county by the railroad. 

The railroad reached Goshen in June, 1872. Mr. Hoffman, 
locating agent, accepted, as a gift, lands from W. R. Owens. 
In July a depot building was erected, and the first passenger 
train reached there on July 25, 1872. C. M. Valle was first 
station agent there. The road was pushed on to where Tulare 
City now is, and a town laid out as described elsewhere. 

VISALIA BRANCH RAILROAD. 


CRY FOR RAILROADS. 

There was a cry for a railroad along the entire San Joaquin 
Valley. The Visalia Times of 1868, in urging the construc¬ 
tion of a railroad to San Francisco, said: “Such a road would 
be of the utmost value to this section of the State. Our citi¬ 
zens should aid in its construction, and it will add to their 
wealth. The road can be made, and may God speed the day.” 
Again it says: “Farmers and stockmen are paying sixty dol¬ 
lars per ton for merchandise from Stockton to Visalia. The 
people might save $100,000 annually if we had a railroad. 
Land that is worth five and ten dollars per acre will he worth, 
after the completion of a railroad, from forty to sixty dollars 
per acre.” 


The project of a branch railroad from Visalia was imme¬ 
diately broached, and after several meetings and considerable 
effort the road was constructed, connecting Visalia with the 
main line at Goshen. 

The Times of August, 1874, said iu reference to this railroad: 

“It may he well said that yesterday was one of Visalia’s 
proudest days. Our citizens have long talked of building rail¬ 
roads, and have laid various plans and made many calculations, 
but till recently their efforts have been fruitless. The track¬ 
laying on the new road was completed into town yesterday, 
and the first train came in at 6 o’clock in the evening. We 
feel proud that we to-day for the first time have the privilege 
of announcing that Visalia has connection with the commer- 















194 


RAILROADS AND THEIR ADVANTAGES. 


cial world by means of a railroad. The switch and necessary 
appendages will soon be finished, and the road ready for the 
transportation of passengers and freight in a few days. The 
mail and express will also be carried on the cars. Let this be 
but a grand start in the advancement of Visalia.” 

ADVANTAGES OF THE RAILROAD. 

Without the railroad for moving the products of Tulare 
County, it would be impossible to find a paying market for the 
immense yield of its fertile fields. Take for instance the wheat 
crop: Twenty thousand pounds is the average weight of a 
car-load, at which figure 2,400 cars would 'generally be 
required to transport the surplus grain to the sea-shore. If all 
were shipped by one train, the train would be over fourteen 
miles in length, and require something like eighty locomotives 
to draw it. This is only one item of production. Add to this 
other cei-eals, stock, fruits, etc., and the traffic is simply 
immense. 

GOSHEN DIVISION S. P. R. R. 

This piece of railroad extends from Goshen to Huron in a 
westerly direction for miles. This road passes through the 
noted Mussel Slough country, and affords an outlet for shipping 
thelargeamount of grain, fruit, and stock of this fruitful section. 
The road is designed as a continuation of the line which now 
terminates at Hollister, in San Benito County. Huron is the 
present terminus of this Goshen Division, which consists of 
simply a station, and very little business is here transacted. 
The towns of Hanford and Lemoore on this road are flourishing, 
and each have a large trade and are supported by agriculture. 

HANFORD SINGLE TRACK RAILWAY. 

The so-called James Single Track Railway was put in opera¬ 
tion at Hanford a few years ago, and a few miles of road con¬ 
structed. The first operations of the road were considered 
successful. Dr. Bradley was President of the company and 
Joseph Clark Superintendent. Mr. Hobser was the first 
engineer. No permanent progress was, however, made with 
this road. 

Several other railway enterprises, both before this one and 
since, have been projected, but all failed. The object was to 
organize a new line to tide water in competition with the 
Southern Pacific. 

HEIGHT OF PLACES. 

The railroad company give the following as the correct 
heights of some important places above low water-mark of 
Suisun Bay: Visalia, 339 feet; Hanford, 249 feet; Tulare City, 
289 feet; Lemoore, 227 feet; King’s River bridge near Le¬ 
moore, 222 feet; Goshen, 286 feet; Huron, 376 feet; Summit 
Lake, 220 feet. 

Capt. J. W. A. Wright gives the height of Tulare Lake at 
200 feet. 


Depth of Tulare Lake. 

A variety of statements were furnished us as to the area and 
depth of Tulare Lake, and Capt. J. \V. A. Wx-ight says: 
“Erroneous statements have long been going the rounds in 
various journals, as regards the extent of surface and the depth 
of Tulare Lake, to the effect that its water covers 230,000 acres 
of land, and that its greatest depth is sixty feet. The facts in 
the case should be recorded in a permanent work like the 
present, and are as follows, as was pi-oven beyond question by 
Captain Wright’s six days’ voyage in the schooner Water Witch 
around and across the lake in May, 1882: Diminished in size 
as the lake was by the receding of its watex*s for several miles 
on its northern, eastern, and southern shores, it covered at that 
time not far from eleven and a half townships, or more neai’ly 
417 sections or square miles of land. This makes more than 
266,000 aci'es, and its area, at the present writing, July, 1883, is 
but little less than that, although its depth now is between one 
and two feet less than it was a year ago. Its greatest depth 
at that time as shown by hundreds of careful soundings, with 
a good lead and line, was only between twenty-one and twenty- 
two feet. So that its greatest depth now does not exceed 
twenty feet. These deepest soundings are found in a com- 
paratively narrow depi’ession about midway between the mouth 
of King’s River on the north and Terrapin Bay on the south, 
and this depression appears to be the old channel of the line of 
drainage, before the immense deposits of sediment from King’s 
River formed the dam across the valley—a dam about forty 
feet high—which undoubtedly was the cause of Tulai’e Lake. 
Much the larger portion of the lake, which is really the largest 
fresh-water lake on the Pacific Coast, varies in depth fx-orn four 
to nine feet. On the last day of her successful and pleasant voy¬ 
age, the Water Witch sailed fifty miles, going out to and beyond 
the center of the lake, at least ten miles from shore in any 
direction, and sailing northward after midnight, cast anchor 
at 6 A. M. next morning neai - the mouth of King’s River, whence 
she had sailed six mornings before. Continuous soundings wei’e 
made throughout the day and night with the l-esults above 
given, corresponding with the x-esults of the xxumerous sound¬ 
ings of the first days of the voyage. Before Captain Wright’s 
party went ashore they visited, in the small boat, Pelican 
Island, which stretched for a mile or more south of the west 
bank of King’s River, a narrow strip of sandy land scarcely a 
hundred feet across its widest part, rising only about eighteen 
inches above the lake surface, and without the slightest vege¬ 
tation. Here thousands of white or rough-billed pelicans 
(Pelicanus erythrorhynchus, Gm.), and Brandt’s cormorants 
(Graculus penicillatus, Bonap.) build their nests side by side 
and rear their young on the bare sand. For their nests the 



















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THE MUSSEL SLOUGH DIFFICULTIES. 


195 


pelicans merely rake up the sand slightly in a circle with their 
wings, and lay in them two white eggs about three and one- 
half inches long by seven inches around their smaller circum¬ 
ference. The cormorants add a few pieces of tule stalks and 
flags around their nests, and lay two or three eggs, smaller 
than those of the pelican, and of a bluish-green color. The 
spread of wings of one of several pelicans the party killed 
lacked only an inch of being nine feet. 

“The winter after this trip, the only voyage of exploration 
ever made on Tulare Lake, the Water Witch was stranded and 
completely wrecked by one of the severe storms for which 
this lake is noted, and for more than a year not a sail has 
whitened the bosom of this large, curious and interesting body 
of semi-brackish water. 

“ Verbena nodi flora is one of the most useful native plants of 
Tulare County. It grows in large quantities on lands north 
and east of Tulare Lake for fifteen or twenty miles, especially 
along lower King’s River. Its common name is “bee-plant,” 
and it well merits the name. Bees are very fond of its small 
white flowers, which bloom through spring and summer in 
successive rows, on a cone or scape about an inch long, and 
from these, bee-men say, the whitest and purest honey of Tulare 
County is made. This plant does not grow high, but spreads 
with its trailing stems close to the ground, and with its small, 
dark green, slightly dentate leaves, presents a very pretty 
appearance. It is also a pasture plant which stock eat readily, 
where alfalfa is not abundant.” 


The Mussel Slough Difficulties. 

The so-called “Mussel Slough difficulties” have extended 
through about a dozen years, and from time to time have occu¬ 
pied the attention of the people everywhere. The highest courts 
have been engaged in settling these troubles which arose from 
settlers occupying lands claimed by the railroad company be¬ 
fore any valuation was positively fixed as the railroad com¬ 
pany claim. The settlers brought water upon the barren 
lands and made the “ desert to blossom as the rose.” When 
the lands were graded the railroad fixed a price which the 
settlers said was five or ten times greater than they expected 
to pay for the lands they were living on. It must not be for¬ 
gotten that the settlers had the use and profits from these 
lands for a series of years, on lease or otherw ise. 

We give a brief review of some of the principal proceedings 
as they occurred upon both sides being extracts from news¬ 
papers of those dates. 

“ On the 12th of April, 1878, a mass meeting was called of 
the settlers. About six hundred men assembled at Hanford, 
and there was organized the Settlers’ Grand League, under and 
in accordance with the following resolutions and pledge:— 


settlers’ grand league. 

“ Resolved —First. That while we are willing to pay the full 
value or the Government price of these lands, or what the 
value was when the Southern Pacific Railroad filed their 
map, January 3, 1867; or we are willing to pay the full 
value, the Government price, of these lands when the 
Southern Pacific Railroad claimed its right attached, June 28, 
1870, or the full value now, which, without our presence, our 
ditches, our cultivation, and other improvements, would not 
exceed $2.50 per acre; but we are not willing, and look upon 
it as a cas • of injustice without a parallel in the United States, 
that we should have to pay the enhanced value, made by our 
own industry and toil. 

“Resolved —Second. That we recognize no rights of the 
Southern Pacific Railroad Company to our homes, and that 
the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, or its assigns, cannot 
peaceably enjoy the benefits of our several years’ toil and ex¬ 
pense to our exclusion; and that, in placing our signatures to 
these resolutions, we do it with a firm resolve to stand by each 
other in the protection of our homes and our families against 
this fraudulent claim of the Southern Pacific Railroad Com¬ 
pany, or its assigns, and we will stand in the attitude of one 
man until our case is finally adjudicated in the United States 
Supreme Court.” 

These resolutions were signed by several hundred settlers. 
Many attempts were made by conference and otherwise to* 
compromise the difficulties but they all failed. 

“On August 14, 1878, T. J. McQuiddy, T. Shivers, and J. J. 
Doyle, wrote from Grangeville to the railroad company, saying 
the people of that section of country had met in Hanford, 
August 10, 1878, and adopted resolutions in regard to Wm. H. 
Clark, the land grader, the final sentence of which was as 
follows: “We would respectfully ask that you remove at once 
said Clark and avoid what we fear will be serious trouble in 
the near future.” 

“On November 8, 1878, suits in ejectment were brought by 
the S. P. R. R. Co., against persons in Mussel Slough holding 
adversely its patented lands. Judgment for the company was 
rendered on December 15, 1879, in the U. S. Circuit Court, 
San Francisco.” 

“On Friday night, November 21, 1878, a band of masked 
men, numbering from eighty to one hundred and fifty, went on 
horseback to the house of Ira Hodge, about five miles east 
of Hanford, and about midnight set Hodge and his wife and 
children, with their household goods, out-of-doors, and burned 
down the house.” See Hanford Public Good of November 
26, 1878 (not now published). 

“On December 15, 1878, men with 100 teams drove Perry C. 
Phillips from land that he had bought from the rail¬ 
road company, plowed it up and put James B. Fretwell in 
possession.” 









196 


THE MUSSEL SLOUGH DIFFICULTIES. 


On March 4, 1879, in consequence of the railroad land 
troubles a military company was organ zed at Hanford. See 
San Francisco Chronicle, March 5,1879. 

The following is from the San Francisco Morning Call of 
July 21, 1879: “Midnight Visitors—Hanford, July 20th.— 
About forty mounted men, fully disguised, called Dr. DeWolf 
from his bed at 1 o’clock last night. They inquired the where¬ 
abouts of Clark, the land grader, Walter Crow, and Hartt. 
They, without doubt, belonged to the settlers’ league. One 
person acted as spokesman and the rest remained silent. At a 
signal they all rode off. Whether they tore up the railroad 
track or did anything else, has not transpired. Ed. Smith, in 
another part of town, was also called up. What their object 
was in calling uninterested persons from their beds in the night, 
is not clear. One thing is certain, no person can buy this land 
from the railroad company aud occupy it, till the title is settled 
in the courts.” 

“On May 10, 1880, U. S. Marshal Poole went to Hanford for 
the purpose of putting purchasers of railroad lands in posses¬ 
sion under said judgment. He was resisted by an armed force. 
The fight that ensued resulted in the death of eight persons.” 

“To prevent the news of the resistance offered to the U. S. 
Marshal from spreading, the telegraph operator at Hanford 
was driven from his office. In order that the dying statement 
of M. D. Hartt (one of the purchasers of railroad land), who 
was badly wounded in the fight, might not be taken, no one 
was allowed to go to his house to render assistance. See San 
Francisco Bulletin, Chronicle, Call and Alta, of May 12th, 
13th, and 14th, 1880. 

“On June 1, 1880, the railroad company offered to reduce 
the price of the land 12£ per cent. Almost all the settlers 
made application to rent, the railroad company having also 
agreed to allow them to apply the rent for 1880 on the pur¬ 
chase of the laud at the reduced figures. After leases were 
made out on these applications and sent to Hanford, the appli¬ 
cants refused to sign them.” 

“On July 21, 1880, D. W. Parkhurst, one of the traveling 
employes of the railroad company, was at Hanford with his 
wife. About 11 or 12 o’clock at night a band of masked men 
called him from his bed to the door of the hotel where he was 
stopping, and with pistols and guns pointed at him, warned 
him to leave town, which he did. See San Francisco Chronicle, 
April 23, 1880.” 

“On December 22, 1880, in the U. S. Circuit Court, San 
Francisco, the following persons were convicted of resisting the 
U. S. Marshal, and were, January 24, 1881, sent to prison at 
San Jose: J. J. Doyle, James N. Patterson, J. D. Purcell, W. L. 
Pryor, and Wm. Braden.” See San Francisco Bulletin, Decem¬ 
ber 23, 1880. 

RESULT OF THE CONTEST. 

The Visalia Times of May 15, 1880, said: “As has long been 
anticipated, the conflict between settlers in the Mussel Slough 


country and purchasers of railroad lands has been inaugurated 
—when to be ended, time alone can tell. Language is inade¬ 
quate to depict the horrible affair. 

“The difficulty occurred on Brewer’s homestead, about three 
hundred yards from Tulare County line in Fresno County, 
and was brought about by the U. S. Marshal attempting to 
dispossess settlers on what is called railroad lands. The battle 
was a quick and decisive one.” 

“The following-named persons were killed: Settlers—James 
Harris, Iver Knutson, J. W. Henderson, Archibald McGregory, 
and Dan Kelly. Walter J. Crow and M. D. Hartt, supposed 
purchasers of railroad lan I, killed. E. Haymaker, settler, 
slightly wounded in the head.” 

“U. S. Marshal Poole, in company with Clark, Crow, and 
Hartt, first visited the ranch of W. B. Broden; he not being at 
home his household goods were set out in the street and he after¬ 
wards notified of the fact. Intent upon visiting other places 
for the same purpose, a number of settlers were encountered 
and at this time the trouble began. Statements of both sides 
differ materially in regard to the commencement of the firing.” 

“The following are names of the gent'emen composing the 
Coronor’s jury: J. T. Baker, F. A. Blakeley, W. A. Gray, A. D. 
House, W. F. Hite, N. W. Motheral, Thos. Jinkinson, H. H. 
Freeman, J. N. Patterson, E. R. Hulbert, J. S. Robinson, L. L. 
Moore.” 

The following resolutions were adopted by the settlers upon 
receiving the information of the conflict and its results:— 

“Whereas, we, the citizens of Hanford and vicinity, accord¬ 
ing to a previous call, had assembled at Hanford with our 
wives and children to enjoy a social picnic, and freely discuss 
the questions relating to the unhappy dispute between the 
settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and in 
the midst of mirth were greeted by the sad intelligence that 
three of our neighbors and friends had this day been ruthlessly 
shot and murdered, while three others are mortally wounded 
by W. J. Crow and M. D. Hartt, who had purchased from 
said railroad company the homes of some of the settlers on the 
lands involved in the said dispute; therefore, be it 

“Resolved, That we feel that the responsibility of the shedding 
of innocent blood rests upon the Southern Pacific Railroad Com¬ 
pany, and that we do heartily deprecate the action of the 
company, thus inflicting upon our already distressed community 
this heart-rending calamity. 

“Resolved, That while we have often heretofore presented our 
grievances to the Government authorities, we do again humbly 
supplicate the authorities to take notice of the unjust wrongs 
being inflicted upon us by said company. 

“Resolved , That in this hour of grief we pledge our sacred 
honor and our all to use all honorable means to avert the 
further shedding of blood, and to urge the settlers to wait the 
coming, through the channels of the law, of the vindication of 
our rights against this cormorant, that seems not to be content 
with unjustly taking our substance and worldly goods, but 
also seeks to take our lives through hired means in this whole¬ 
sale way. 






THE MUSSEL SLOUGH DIFFICULTIES. 


197 


“Resolved, That these resolutions be published in our county 
papers, and in all the papers of the State friendly to the 
oppressed struggling for their homes and all the endearments 
of home. W. B. Cullom, 

L. C Hawley, T. W. Standard,. 

R. T. Sharp. J. J. Doyle, 

“The funerals of the victims were largely attended by all 
classes of citizens of the entire country.” 

RECEPTION GIVEN THE PRISONERS. 

After the five prisoners had served their time at the San Jose 
Jail, they i-eturned to their homes and the Visalia Delta of that 
date says:— 

“The celebration at Hanford on Wednesday, the 5th instant, 
tendered the returned Mussel Slough men, was an ovation not 
soon to be forgotten; their welcome on their return home, and 
the first trial of the James single-track road, were both highly 
successful. Early in the day, teams commenced to enter the 
town from all parts, and some from a long distance—even from 
San Francisco. The exercises and banquet were held in the 
•Hanford Park, and 3,000 people were estimated to be present. 
At noon the stores were all closed, and after music by the Han¬ 
ford Silver Cornet Band, Grand Marshal J. G. Pope called the 
masses to order. Judge Talbot was electe 1 President of the 
day 7 , and J. W. A. Wright, Secretary. Hon. E. C. Marshall 
made one of his sharp and pithy speeches, and being in an 
unusually happy mood, gave, in a most sarcastic manner, both 
the S. P. R. R. Co., and the Court who convicted them, a 
scathing, bitter, scorching. Mr. Marshall occupied about an 
hour with his speech, and retired amid great applause. 

“The released prisoners and their families were then escorted 
to the rostrum, and seats provided for them, as were also for 
the families of the unfortunate victims of the tragedy of May, 
1880. Letters were read from Congressman Berry, Hon. Robt. 
Ferrel, Senator Tinnin and others. Carl Browne, J. J. Doyle, 
and others, made brief and pertinent speeches. Appropriate 
resolutions were adopted. The feast was fine, and everybody 
seemed to enjoy themselves. In the evening a grand social 
dance was given, which was well attended.” 

Having given some of the leading acts upon both sides of 
this unfortunate affair, we close by quoting a few words from 
old x’esident settlers of the neighborhood. One l’esident writes 
us, “Do not imagine that all the settlers were members of 
the 1 League,’ or in any way countenanced their proceed¬ 
ing's. I have not the date, but in time a ‘ Settlers’ League’ 
was formed, and the leaders and their followers would meet 
often and talk the matter over, and when they were beaten 
in every legal process, and the railroad company had their 
patent to the land, the fact exists that they 7 set themselves 
up as the rightful owners regardless of the railroad com¬ 
pany’s patent to the land, or the authority of the United 
States Government. Another fact exists: The Leagues formed 
themselves into a military company, who, on horseback and 


masked, patrolled the streets of Hanford. Mr. Parkhurst was 
warned to leave the county. Mr. Phillips’ house and corral was 
burned, and the family of Mr. Phillips was turned out of 
doors, and warned not to be found again on that or any rail¬ 
road land in the country. These more simple steps leading up 
to the tragedy, where they went four or five miles and 
attacked Crow and Hartt; and still there is another fact that 
some four hours after the fight, and after the United States 
Marshal and Clerk were escorted out of the county, they, the 
leaguers, in cold blood, deliberately murdered Crow.” 

Another old settler writes us as follows: “The real settlers 
here feel that they were badly injured by a set of demagogues 
who were very anxious to get something for nothing. They 7 
ruined many a poor man that heard to them, and no doubt 
cost the settlers here a half million of dollars. Whenever there 
was an opportunity to adjust our land matters, the leaguers 
were always in the way. They made all the noise. They 
never were one-fourth of the community, and generally too 
poor to be injured much by 7 the agitation.” 

One of our patrons writes us from Hanford that “ for a 
time it was a reign of terror here. Notices were posted warn¬ 
ing people not to purchase railroad land as they would not be 
allowed to hold possession of the same. Men were invited to 
leave the neighborhood, and some old settlers did leave for the 
time being. Mr. Parkhurst was obliged to leave. For a day 7 
or so the leaguers held possession of the railroad company’s 
depot and telegraph office. It was hourly expected that dam¬ 
age would be done to railroad px-operty, and no doubt would 
have been had it not been told freely that the damage so done 
would have to be paid for by the county. The military 
branch of the league were armed and masked, and paraded 
the streets of Hanford in the night-time.” 

We have endeavored to give the main facts, pro and con, of 
this unfortunate difficulty. * 

Tulare County Public Schools. 

The following valuable article on the Public Schools was 
furnished us by C. H. Murphy, County Superintendent of 
Schools. 

When Prussia was reduced to an impoverished condition by 
Napoleon’s divesting her of her wealth, influence, and terri¬ 
tory, William von Humboldt importuned the king to establish 
a universal, compulsory system of education as the only safe¬ 
guard agaiust the ruin of military despotism. The wisdom 
and foresight of this scheme was thoroughly vindicated in 1872 
in her struggle with France, by overcoming her misfortunes in 
regaining and maintaining a leading and controlling position 
among the powers of Europe. This triumph was not due to 
any superior physical force but rather to the power of intelli¬ 
gence. More than a thousand years ago the great Christian 
Emperor, Charlemagne,proclaimed that all persons participating 
in the management of the Government must educate the 







198 


THE SCHOOLS OF TULARE COUNTY 


children, in order that intelligence and not ignorance should 
characterize his reign. “In all ages and in all civilized 
countries the governing class has been, is, and must of neces¬ 
sity be educated, else the Government can be neither good nor 
permanent. The very inherent nature of man and of govern¬ 
ment makes this principle constant and universal.” 

Notwithstanding the many imperfections incorporated in 
our system in the pioneer days of California, the wisdom of our 
best educators and wisest legislators have remodeled it until 
its efficiency is beyond question. That underlying foundation 
principle that" An ignorant people may be governed, but only 
an educated people can govern themselves,” was embodied in 
the first Constitution of 1849, in providing for a Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, creating a school fund for the endow¬ 
ment of a State University, and establishing a system of pub¬ 
lic schools by which a school must be maintained in each 
district for at least three months in every year. Recognizing 
more fully the efficacy of our school system already established, 
and believing the ballot to be essential to the protection of 
individual rights, the State from its first organization pro¬ 
vided for a general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence as 
being necessary to preserve the rights and maintain the liber¬ 
ties of the people. 

FIRST RECORDS OF TULARE SCHOOLS. 

In the year 1852 Tulare County was organized, and formed 
by cutting off a portion of the territory belonging to Mariposa 
County. At that time it embraced all the territory now 
belonging to Fresno, Inyo, Mono, and a part of Kern Counties, 
in addition to what it now includes. Of the early progress of 
the schools the public records give but little information. It 
is asserted as a fact that the records were made on a slip of 
paper and carried in the vest pocket of the officer in charge. 

# 

FIRST COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT. 


Visalia school district was organized in 1854, comprising all 
the territory of the county. Wiley Watson, Dr. H. L. Mathews, 
anc l — Thorne were elected trustees. The first public school 
taught in the county was during the winter of 1854-55, by a 
gentleman by the name of Carpenter. As the county increased 
in wealth and population, the people became more interested in 
schools, and two new districts, Woodvilleand Tule River, were 
organized. The Visalia Academy was founded in 1800 by the 
Rev. B. W. Taylor, a Methodist minister. By his indefatigable 
industry and sound discretion the school under his adminis¬ 
tration flourished, the number of students ranging from 100 
to 175. 

PIONEER TEACHERS. 

Four years passed by, and a change in the management of 
the school, its efficiency gradually declined. Dilapidated ruins 
now mark the spot of what might have been a proud monu¬ 
ment of learning to the city. H. McLean and J. D. Travis, of 
Tulare City, were among the pioneer teachers of the first decade 
of the existence of our public schools. During the second 
decade the school distri ts increased in number from three to 
twenty-seven. 

The resources of this valley were now becoming favorably 
known. For the first time it was ascertained that the land 
which was thought to be fit for grazing purposes only, could 
be successfully cultivated, and much of the land hitherto unoc¬ 
cupied was settled by an agricultural people. The dawn of a 
new era is upon us. More and more interest in education is 
manifested. The third decade shows an increase from twenty- 
seven to eighty-three school districts and ninety-nine schools. 
Both the State and count) 7 have contributed liberally to the 
support of our schools, and districts have cheerfully voted a 
direct tax for building purposes, or to extend their school 
facilities. 

PROGRESS OF THE SCHOOLS. 


The first County Superintendent of Schools, or School Com¬ 
missioner, was Major Gordon, who was County Clerk and 
ex officio School Commissioner. During his administration the 
records of the schools were kept in a small memorandum, 
which at the expiration of his term of office was turned over 
to his successor. As to the present whereabout of this valua¬ 
ble record and the matter therein contained, time and eternity 
only can reveal. 

FIRST SCHOOL TAUGHT. 

The first school taught in the county was in Visalia during 
the winter of 1853-54. A private house was donated for the 
purpose and the Rev. Mr. Kennedy, a Presbyterian minister, 
taught a select school a few months when its existence ceased. 
Though a scholarly gentleman, and possessing a fund of prac¬ 
tical knowledge, the school under his administration was not a 
financial success. 


The following table will give some idea of the condition and 
progress of the public schools of Tulare County for the three 
decades of their existence, commencing at the organization of 
the county in 1852 and ending June 30, 1883, as gleaned from 
the official records and pioneer settlers:— 

TABLE. 



1853. 

1863. 

1S73. 

1SS3. 

Census Children between 5 and 17. 

18 

836 

1514 

3646 

Census Children under 5. 

Not Taken. 

659 

1671 

Children Attending School. 

13 

348 

1178 

2758 

Children not Attending School. 

5 

488 

527 

742 

Number of School Districts. 


3 

27 

83 

Number Months Taught in each. 

3 

6 

7 

64 

Average Daily Attendance. 

7 

132 

643 

1784 

Average Monthly Salary. 

$ 55 

§ 70 

$ 80 

$ 69 

Amount of State Funds Received. 


740 

4535 

31 123 

Amount of County Funds Received. 


1014 

11 647 

1 4- fin7 

Special Funds Received in. 

165 

3S0 

5,046 

2] 693 

Total Expenses incurred in. 

135 

1642 

19,518 

53,814 

Valuation of School Property. 


325 

11,475 

33,000 




































State Capitol Building, 


SACRAMENTO, CAL 






































































































































































































THE ORGANIZATION OF KERN COUNTY. 


199 


Organization of Kern County. 

We have given a general history of the Tulare Valley in 
the preceding pages, having reference to the whole section 
before it was segregated from Tulare. There are also many 
matters in the Tulare County history, such as a description of 
Tulare Lake, scenery, etc., that are really a part of Kern County. 

We sh ill now mention matters having a direct reference to 
Kern County as now bounded. As early as 1854 the first dis¬ 
covery of gold was made, it is said by a party of immigrants 
on their way from Los Angeles. They had camped on a gulch 
that gashed the Greenhorn Mountain, one of the highest points 
in the lower Sierra, and had found a rich deposit of gold in 
the gulch. The news spread, but it was not till 1857 the 
great rush, called Kern River gold excitement, memorable 
throughout the State as one of those periodical furores which 
in former years more than latterly so peculiarly characterized 
California, was made. 

REPORT OF RICH MINES. 

A report of rich mines now went out and fortune hunters 
poured in. The mountains swarmed with eager men, and it 
was not long till other discoveries were made, and French 
Gulch, Spanish Gulch, Hogeye Gulch, Bradshaw’s, Whisky 
Flat, Keysville and other places were found equally rich in the 
precious metal. The placers which had been found in the 
gulches and bars and flats along the river were soon exhausted 
and attention was turned to the sources of the treasure, and effort 
made to discover it. This was soon found in numerous aurif¬ 
erous quartz ledges that showed themselves all through the 
mountains. One of the first was the Big Blue—the great 
Sumner Mine—near Kernville, or Whisky Flat, as the place 
was then called. 

This was discovered in 1860. Numerous small leads and 
one large one called the Mammoth were found near Keysville, 
and the first mill in the county was erected at that place in 
1859. These were very rich but rather small, and as they 
went down upon them with meager facilities for reduction and 
limited capital for operation, soon ceased to be profitable and 
were abandoned. 

Keysville was, however, the most prosperous camp in the 
county for several years, and not till the fall of 1864 did it 
yield to a rival. By this time placer mining had about given 
out, and quartz mining had superseded and was then the 
dominant interest. 

EARLY MINING INTERESTS. 

The history of the county up to this period is necessarily the 
history of the mines, that being the only interest up to that 
time. 

In 1863 the Long Tom Clines were discovered and soon fell 
into the hands of San Francisco capitalists. They erected a 
mill, developed the mine, and extracted very nearly half a 


million of money from it in about a year and a half. They 
then sold it, and it has not been successfully worked since. 
The mine is still said to be rich, but is not now productive. 
The famous Joe Walker Mine, near Havilah, was not found till 
in 1866. 

This mine was successfully operated for several years, and 
yielded large returns, but at a depth of 400 feet a great body 
of wate.- was struck and the mine immediately filled. Great 
expenditures were made in pumps and hoisting machinery, 
aggregating some hundred thousand dollars, and many efforts 
were made to drain and work the mine, but all to no avail. 

One of the first leads that was found in the county was the 

Big Blue or Sumner Mine. It was worked with varying suc¬ 
cess by various parties for several years till it at last fell into 

the hands of its present owners, by whom it is said to have 

been very profitably worked. One of the finest mills in the 
State is erected there, running eighty stamps. All the most 
improved and superior machinery was employed. 

As the mines failed to m ike satisfactory returns, their hold¬ 
ers sold or abandoned them, and, with the remnant of their 
means, they came down to the valley, and sought to better 
themselves by the less alluring but more reliable occupation 
of tilling the soil and acquiring a permanent and advancing 
interest in the county. 

FIRST FARMING OPERATIONS. 

Up to the period we have mentioned but few attempts at 
agriculture had been made. In the mountain valleys, Walk¬ 
er’s Basin, Linn’s Valley, Bear and Cumming’s Valleys, Tehach- 
epi, and on the little flats along the Upper Kern River and its 
affluents were some crude efforts mostly directed to the pro¬ 
duction of hay and grain, which were about the only articles 
for which a market could be found, while stock-raising consti¬ 
tuted their chief interest. But the great valley and the 
magnificent delta of the Kern River still remained an impene¬ 
trable jungle and an impassable swamp, where the tuneful 
mosquito sang his evening hymn in peace, the wild hog sought 
the succulent tule root, and wilder cattle roamed the adjacent 
and almost boundless plains. 

FIRST SETTLER ON KERN ISLAND. 

In 1861 the first white man camped and settled on what has 
been designated as Kern Island. In 1862 two or three others 
followed, and in a short time they were joined by the late 
Thomas Baker, familiarly known as Colonel Baker. Here 
was a man of foresight and judgment. He saw with pro¬ 
phetic vision the great future that was dawning upon the 
county, and determined to make it his own. He was a 
man full of grand projects and schemes which he could 
very well conceive, but iu maturing them he was apt to over¬ 
look details which, though they appeared to him insignificant 
and trifling, were not to be despised. At any rate he matured 
a plan for the reclamation of a very large body of land, for 









200 


THE ORGANIZATION OF KERN COUNTY. 


which he received the major portion of the lands so redeemed. 
From that time on, attention gradually came to be directed to 
the valley. 

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. 

The only means of communication with the outside world 
at this date was by way of Havilah, whence two stage 
lines ran, one to Los Angeles and the other to Owen’s River— 
another of those golden fields to which distance had lent 
enchantment. From Havilah the road ran across Greenhorn 
Mountain to Visalia. Colonel Baker, with his usual energy, 
built, at great expense, a toll-road from the foot of the mount¬ 
ain, a distance of twenty-seven miles, to Havilah, and a 
desultory communication was established. 


Kern County Organized. 

The interest of the population had grown so that it was 
deemed advisable to erect a county government; the passage 
of an enabling act was procured, and the county was organ¬ 
ized in 1866, with Havilah for the county seat. 

The county was organized b} r an Act approved April 2, 
1866, entitled “An Act to create the county of Kern, to define 
its boundaries, and to provide for its organization,” as follows: 

Section 1 . There shall be formed out of portions of Tulare 
and Los Angeles Counties a new county, to be called Kern. 

Sec. 2. The boundaries of Kern County shall be as follows: 
Commencing at a point on the western boundary line of 
Tulare County, two miles due south of the sixth standard 
south of the Mount Diablo base line; thence due east to the 
western boundary of Inyo County; thence southerly and east¬ 
erly following the western boundary of Inyo County and 
northern boundary of Los Angeles County to the northeast 
corner of Los Angeles County; thence south along the eastern 
boundary of Los Angeles County to the line between townships 
eight and nine, north of the San Bernardino base line; thence due 
west to the Tulare County line; thence southerly along the 
said Tulare County line to the southwest corner of Tulare 
County; thence northerly, following along the western boun- 
dai’y of Tulare County to the place of beginning. 

FIRST MEETING OF SUPERVISORS. 

The first meeting of the Board of Supervisors after organi¬ 
zation of the county was held at Havilah, the then countv 
seat, as a special meeting on Wednesday, August 1, 1866, for 
the purpose of organization and the transaction of business. 
Henry Hammel and J. J. Rhymes were present. Said meet¬ 
ing being held pursuant to the Act of the Legislature “ creat¬ 
ing the county of Kern, to define its boundaries and to pro¬ 
vide for its organization.” This meeting proceeded to lay out 
and organize three townships numbered one, two, and three. 

FIRST TAX LEVY. 

The first regular meeting of Board of Supervisors was held 
August 2, 1866, at Havilah with Messrs. Hammel and Rhymes. 


The following taxes were levied on each $100 of property:— 

For State purposes.. . . . $1.05 

“ “ Capitol Fund.05 

“ “ insane asylum.03 

“ “ school.08 $1.21 

County Tax:— 

For current expenses. $ .60 

“ school purposes.35 

“ road.25 

“ county hospital.20 $1.40 

Total tax levied. $2.61 

COUNTY GOVERNMENT STARTED. 

The County Auditor was authorized to expend not exceeding 
$1,000 in purchasing necessary books, stationery, and office 
furniture, seals for the different courts, etc.; and the County 
Clerk was authorized to make these purchases. 

Proposals were also advertised for building a county jail. A 
building belonging to Hammel and Denker, at Havilah, was 
leased for county purposes temporarily. 

A committee of F. A. Stoutenburg, P. T. Colby, E. E. Cal¬ 
houn was appointed to report upon a suitable lot or piece of 
ground for erecting a Court House. 

A regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors was held 
August 6, 1866. There were present, Messrs. H. Hammel, 
J. J. Rhymes, and S. A. Bishop. 

The committee reported in favor of purchasing a lot from 
H. C. Harding for $800 for erection of county buildings. A 
contract for building a jail was awarded to Thomas B. Stuart 
for $1,600. 

The salary of Clerk of the Board was fixed at $250. That 
of Auditor was $320. 

At the February session, in 1867, the Board fixed the rate of 
taxation as follows:— 


The State tax. $1.13 

For current expenses.60 

“ road “ 20 

“ hospital “ .*20 

“ school “ 35 


Total tax. $2.4S 


The Treasurer was authorized to purchase a safe at an ex¬ 
pense of $400. The claim of J. R. Rilev, of $53.00, for ser¬ 
vices performed as Superintendent of Schools, was rejected. 

FIRST COURT HOUSE. 

At the meeting of the Supervisors, August 5, 1867, was 
accepted the building erected on the public square in Havilah, 
for a Court House, which had been constructed by F. H. Bin- 
nix, for the sum of $2,200. 

EFFORTS TO REMOVE COUNTY SEAT. 

The valley part of the county was steadily growing b} r a 
stream of hardy and enterprising population, and so consider¬ 
able had become the interest here centered that soon an effort 






























TIIE ORGANIZATION OF KERN COUNTY. 


201 


was made to remove the county seat from the decayed mining 
camp at Havilah to the new and aspiring valley town of Ba¬ 
kersfield. The first effort failed at the time, but the struggle 
was kept up until accomplished. Those who favored Havilah 
argued that Bakersfield was entirely in the western edge of the 
populated portion of the county; that the location “is most un¬ 
fortunate on account of its being the most unhealthy spot in 
thew hole Tulare Valley;” that the people would be compelled^ 
in discharge of their duties as citizens, in attending the ses¬ 
sions of the courts, as jurors, witnesses, or litigants, and also 
in transacting such business as may require their attendance 
at that place, “to subject themselves to the danger of con¬ 
tracting diseases, as persons going there from our healthy, 
bracing atmosphere, are almost in every instance sure to do.” 
“The diseases there are not merely the ordinary chills and 
fever, but usually it assumes a most virulent type, which pros¬ 
trates a person for months, and sometimes proves fatal in a 
short time, or leaves the unfortunate victim in a dilapidated 
condition, which requires months to recover from.” 

In November, 1872, a petition having been presented, pray¬ 
ing for a removal of the county seat, it was ordered that an 


election be held on the 15th of February, 

1873. 

At this elec- 

tion, from some irregularities, the votes of three precincts were 

thrown out by the Supervisors, but were 

afterwards ordered 

to be counted, by the Court, as here given 

:— 

BAKERS- 

Precincts. havilah. 

FIELD. 

Havilah. 

97 

— 

South Fork. 

33 

1 

Hudson’s. 

— 

14 

Walker Basin. 

— 

10 

Kern Island. 

5 

265 

Long Tom. 


14 

Tehachepi. 

40 

18 

Bear Valley. 

4 

22 

Alpine. 


12 

Sageland. 

Linn’s Valley. 

22 

1 

38 

23 

Kernville. 

72 

— 

Clarville. 

21 


Total. 

332 

370 


This election gave a small majority to Bakersfield, but the 
result was hotly contested. Another year was consumed in 
costlv and acrimonious litigation before the seat was finally 
located at Bakersfield. 

The injunction suit was commenced in the month of May, 
1875. The county expended, by warrants on the treasury, in 
the conduct of the suit, the sum of $2,237.80. During the 
three months’ delay caused by injunction, the county paid rent 
for a court room $150, and for county offices about $250. The 
costs in the action amounted to about $400, making a total of 
$3,037.80. 

In February, 1874, the Supervisors ordered the Town Hall 
of Bakersfield to be designated as the court rooms of the 
county. 


FIRST COUNTY" OFFICERS. 

The officers first acting after organization of the county 
were: W. B. Ross, Sheriff and Tax Collector; H. D. Bequette, 
Clerk, Auditor, and Recorder; R. B. Sugdy, Assessor; Joseph 
Lively, Coroner; E. E. Calhoun, District Attorney; D. A. Sin¬ 
clair, Treasurer. These were all appointed. The first election 
was evidently held on the 12th of July, 1866, but no record of 
that election can be found. The inspection of official acts at 
that date shows Thomas Baker as County Surveyor, and E. 
W. Doss, School Superintendent. 

FIRST DEEDS RECORDED. 

The first deed recorded for Kern County was put on the 
book July 23, 1866, being for a lot in Havilah, from H. C. 
Hai'ding to James R. Watson. This entry was made by Will¬ 
iam Tyler, the present faithful and competent Auditor and 
penman. 

The first deed to any lands within the boundaries of Kern 
County was of date April 28, 1856 (then Tulare County), 
from William Packard to C. D. Luckey, it being the pre-emp¬ 
tion right to the so-called “Packard Ranch;” consideration, 
$200 coin. It was recorded May 2, 1856. 

FIRST GRAND JURY". 

This jury was drawn at Havilah, November 5, 1866, as fol¬ 
lows: W. W. Hmlson, Foreman; Robert Palmer, W. T. Hen¬ 
derson, Thomas H. Binnix, J. P. Swearengen, B. T. Mitchell, 
W. H. Williams, M. H. Erskine, E. R. Burke, Solomon Jewett, 
Edward Tibbett, V. G. Thompson, Henry Pascoe, J. J. Mur¬ 
phy, J. S. Totty, Daniel Munckton, W. D. Ward, T. W. Barnes, 
Stephen Chandler, and Isaac Lightner. 

FIRST TRIAL JURY'. 

This jury consisted of the following persons: H. L. Todd, 
Charles Anderson, V. G. Thompson, W. G. Sanderson, Daniel 
Williams, H. O’Neal, Charles Hickish. The action was tried 
September 8, 1866:— 

J. N. Medbury et alsl TT , c , , , £ 

J ( Unlawful entry and forcible de- 

M. S*Uw. f tainer ' 

Attorneys for plaintiff, J. M. Freeman and Thomas Laspeyre; 
attorneys for defendant, B. Brundage and E E. Calhoun. 

THE FIRST ASSESSMENT ROLL. 

We find, bv reference to the first assessment roll of the 
county, that the assessed value of all the real estate in the 
county amounted to the sum of $109,060. The personal prop¬ 
erty, consisting mostly of stock and machinery, is put down at 
$651,702, giving a total of taxable property $760,762. That 
was in 1866—seventeen years ago. In 1883 the property roll 
of the county showed about $7,000,000. That is what may 
be called a pretty fair ratio of increase in one decade. When 
we come to consider also that this increase has accrued almost 
entirely during the latter half of the decade, it will appear 
most extraordinary. 






















202 


CHARACTER OF LANDS OF KERN COUNTY. 


NEW COURT HOUSE ERECTED. 

Plans for a Court House were duly advertised, and in 1874 
those of A. A. Bennett were adopted and the work of erection 
began. The corner-stone was laid amid injunctions and bad 
feeling, yet everything, however, went off very well, better 
than could have been expected in view of the fact that there 
were but a few hours in which to make the preparations. The 
Masons and Odd Fellows turned out in their respective regalias, 
and marched with the insignia of their orders to the ground. 
B. Brundage, Master of the Bakersfield Lo Ige of Masons, was 
chosen to perform the eeremony. The stone was a rather 
small one and was suspended over the place of deposit ready 
for the application of the mortar. When the orders had filed 
into their respective places, the choir, composed of Mrs. Hunt, 
Mrs. Willow, and Mrs. Condict, Mr. Olds, Dr. Ormsby and 
Mr. Johnson, opened the exercises with an appropriate song. 
The Master of the lodge then applied the mortar, and the 
stone was lowei’ed into its place. He then read the formula 
prescribed for such occasions, and the choir sang, and the cere¬ 
mony was over. The following souvenirs were deposited under 
the stone in accordance with usage:— 

Copy of the Holy Bible, History of the Organization of 
Kern County; Impressions of the Court and County Seals; 
Organization of the Town of Bakersfield; Organization of 
Kern Lodge, No. 202, I. O. O. F.; Organization of Bakersfield 
Lodge, No. 224, F. and A. M.; Copy of Great Register of Kern 
County; C py of Kern County Weekly Courier; Copy of 
Southern Californian; Copy of S. F. Daily Bulletin; Copy 
of S. F. Alta Californian; Copy of S. F. Morning Call; 
Copy of S. F. Examiner; Copy of S. F. Chronicle; Copy of 
Sacramento Weekly Record-Union; Copy of Original Map of 
Town of Bakersfield; Copy of Constitution and By-Laws of 
Kern Lodge, I. O. O. F; Package Miscellaneous Coin. 

Although no one knew anything about it six hours before, 
there was a large attendance of people to witness the cere¬ 
monies. Many carriages with ladies, were present, and much 
interest was manifested. Members of the respective lodges, 
from all parts of the county—among them some who had 
strenuously opposed Bakersfield in the county-seat election— 
exhibited a frank and friendly spirit by appearing in the pro¬ 
cession and assisting at the ceremonies. 

COUNTY BOUNDARY SETTLEMENTS. 

The Legislature passed a law in March, 1868, for adjusting 
the debt between the counties from which Kern was formed, 
and W. L. Kenneday, E. E. Calhoun, and A. D. Green were 
allowed $750 for services in settling the debt due by Kern 
County to Tulare and Los Angeles. 

In August, 1869, Geo. W. Orth, Deputy County Suiweyor, 
was allowed $1,938 for services in running the boundary line 
in conjunction with the Surveyor of Los Angeles County. The 
line between Los Angeles and Kern Counties, as now existent, 


was agreed upon and run by Geo. W. Orth, for Kern County, 
and Win. P. Reynolds, for Los Angeles County. 

The county was divided by Supervisors in August, 1880, 
into the following townships: Bakersfield, Sumner, Linn’s 
Valley, Poso, New River, Panama, Tejou, Tehachepi, Caliente, 
Mojave, South Fork, and Havilah. They also organized twenty- 
seven voting precincts. 


Geographical Features. 

walker’s pass. 

It was not until 1850 that Capt. Jo. Walker discovered the 
pass through the Sierra Nevada Mountains which leads into 
Tulare Valle}', although others attribute the discovery to 
Jedediah S. Smith, as far back as 1825, while trapping in the 
service of the fur company of which General Ashley was the 
chief in command in the mountains. It is clear at all events 
that, whomsoever discovered the pass, it was never utilized to 
the purposes of emigration and travel until it was made gener¬ 
ally known by Capt. Joseph Walker in 1850, when he pushed 
through it after his explorations in the country of the Moqui 
Indians, supposed to be a remnant of the ancient Aztecs, in 
which he saw the ruins of old and massive habitations, pyra¬ 
mids, castles, pottery, etc., which gave evidence of a very re¬ 
mote and advanced civilization. These ruins he found between 
the Gila and San Juan Rivers. 

They are believed to mark the site of the great city of Grand 
Quivera, or Pecos, the most populous and grandest of that race, 
now long extinct. Walker found his way through the pass 
from the Mohave Desert into Tulare Valley. It was ten miles 
from plain to plain, and on his way he traveled along the head¬ 
waters of Kern River. General Beale afterwards traveled 
the same region, going eastward by the southern route. 

In 1844, Captain Walker resolved to make his home in Cali¬ 
fornia, here in the Territory where so many of his old and be¬ 
loved comrades had fixed their abode. That year he left for 
the States with a band of horses and mules, with a party of 
eight men to accompany him. Col. John C. Fremont was then 
in advance of him, on his return to the East after his second 
expedition to this coast. 

Joseph R. Walker, thediscoverer of “Walker’s Pass” through 
the Sierra Nevada chain, leading from the great basin into 
Tulare Valley, was born in Knox County, near Knoxville, Ten¬ 
nessee, in the closing year of the last century. He is thus 
sketched by Washington Irving in Bonneville’s Expedition:— 

“J. R. Walker was a native of Tennessee, about six feet 
high, strong built, dark complexioned, brave in spirit, though 
wild in manners. He had been for many years in Missouri on 
the frontier; had been among the earliest adventurers to Santa 
Fd, where he had gone to track beaver, and was taken by the 
Spaniards. Being liberated, he engaged with the Spaniards 



































CHARACTER OF LANDS OF KERN COUNTY. 


203 


and Sioux Indians in a war against the Pawnees; then re¬ 
turned to Missouri, and had acted by turns as Sheriff, trader, 
trapper, until he was enlisted as a leader by Captain Bonne¬ 
ville.” 

Captain Walker ceased from his accustomed toils and 
fatigues about ten years before his death, and made his home, 
in peaceful contentment, with his nephew, James T. Walker, 
in Ygnacio Valley, Contra Costa County, from which he oc¬ 
casionally paid visits to his elder brother, Joel, in Santa Rosa, 
and to prized friends in other parts of the State. But he was 
happiest in the quiet of that fond home, and there he died, 
October 28, 1876. His mortal remains repose in Alhambra 
Cemetery in Contra Costi. He lived to the green old age of 
seventy-six years. 

KERN ISLAND. 

This piece of land was so called because in former times it 
was surrounded by water of the Kern River, the South Fork, 
Kern Lake, and Old River. It is of irregular shape, being 
narrow at the northern extremity where Bakersfield is sit¬ 
uated, and widest at the south, where the artesian belt com¬ 
mences. It contains about 85,000 acres, very little of which 
is waste land. 

On this Kern Island nearly all the first attempts at settle¬ 
ment were made, some of them by Mexicans as far back as 
1856. As far back as th ■ time Bakersville was laid out, it 
was little better than a desert. 

SAGE-BRUSH LANDS. 

The prevailing opinion with regard to the sage-brush land 
was that they were worthless for agricultural purposes, and 
they were usually resigned to the undisputed dominion of the 
rattlesnake, the tarantula, horned toad, and other pets of a 
similar nature. But the fact is, no better land in this, the 
garden of the State, than some of the sage-brush land. A 
good growth of sage-brush is evidence of a good deposit of soil. 
In some places there is too much alkali, and the impression is 
quite common that sage-brush land must be alkali land and 
unfit for cultivation. This is an error. Sage brush is about 
the only thing that will grow on alkali land, but it does not 
follow that all land upon which sage brush grows is unfit for 
the production of anything else. 

There is more or less alkali in every inch of soil in the valley, 
but only in rare spots is there sufficient to offer any obstruc¬ 
tion to successful cultivation. It is the presence of this alka¬ 
line constituent in the soil, in the proper proportion, that 
makes it so fertile. The salt of the earth is a hackneyed 
phrase, but it expresses the strength and vigor. The alkali is 
literally the salt of the earth. The fine crystalline particles in 
the soil have a great affinity for water, and it will be observed 
by anyone who will take the trouble to notice, in support of 
this assertion, that watery percolation or absorption prevails 
to a much greater extent in lands that have a large proportion 
of alkali than those that possess less. The existence of sage 


brush is evidence of rich soil, for it will not flourish in sandy 

soil. 

The different characters of Kern County soil can be very 
easily determined by any one of a little experience and observa¬ 
tion, by the native product upon them, and the same soils un¬ 
der different conditions will yield a different native product. 
On the higher lands, or lands not yet brought under irrigation, 
the sandy soils are clear and open, and in the spring-time they 
bear a profusion of wild flowers, and the lines between that 
and the sedimentary soil can be as distinctly and accurately 
traced as if it were fenced off, by the growth of sage brush it 
bears. The sage-brush land is mellow rich soil; the brush is 
easily burned off, and the land is easier to plow than any other. 

LARGE RANCHES. 

The following is a list of the original Spanish land grants, 
and present owners:— 

NAME. NO. OF ACRES. OWNER. 

Rancho San Emidio 17,709 Haggin &; Carr 

Rancho Castaac 22,178 Gen. E. F. Beale 

Rancho Los Alamos Yagua Caliente 26,626 
El Tejon 97,612 

La Liebre 30,685 “ “ 

In addition to this list, Messrs. Haggin & Carr have large 
amounts of irrigated land in the main valley, from whom we 
could obtain no information, nor would they render any assist¬ 
ance in preparing this history. They virtually claim to own 
the whole of Kern River. They filed appropriations for more 
cubic feet than ever passed through the great canon except in 
times of flood. They purchased the only canals not in their 
hands, and they now have absolute control of all the water. 

Kern County at one time was congratulated on having so 
few Mexican grants, but it is a question whether the present 
absorption of small tracts of the fertile valley by one firm is 
any better system. 

No other county in the State, possessing tracts of land simi¬ 
larly situated, and of equal value, has escaped these Mexican 
mortgages, many of them, no doubt, fraudulent; and Kern 
owes her deliverance to the fact that these very lands were not 
considered worth claiming. 

SMALL EMPIRES. 

There are but five Mexican grants in the county, and not 
one of them extends into the valley, but are located, and the 
boundaries long since established and confirmed, in the mount¬ 
ains east and south. 

The largest is the great Tejon Ranch, stretching along the 
foot-hills and into the Sierra Nevada on the east wall of the 
valley, a distance of some forty-five miles. It contains 97,616 
acres. The Castaac grant, comprising 22,178 acres; Los Ala¬ 
mos, with 26,626, and Los Liebre, with 48,840 acres, join it to 
the south and east—the four grants comprising a small empire 
of 195,260 acres. Other small tracts adjoining have been pur¬ 
chased from time to time, until the whole property exceeds 







204 


RIVERS AND LARES OF KERN COUNTY. 


200,000 acres. It is all in Kern County, with the exception 
of the Liebre grant, which is divided by the Kern and Los 
Angeles boundary line, leaving 30,685 acres in Kern and 18,- 
155 in Los Angeles County. 

As stated, there are but five Mexican grants in the county. 
Strictly speaking, there are but two, for four already named 
really constitute but one estate. One other, called the San Emi- 
dio, is in the mountains of the same name, which constitute the 
southern boundary of the county; contains 17,709 acres, and 
is now the property of Messrs. Haggin & Carr. It is devoted 
to stock-raising, to which alone it is admirably adapted; and the 
proprietors are among the most extensive and successful cattle 
raisers in the State. They have, by purchase, extended the 
lines of the original grant considerably, and have also acquired 
some lands in the valley, which are seeded to alfalfa, upon 
which latter they may fatten their cattle and prepare them for 
market. 

GENERAL BEALE’S LARGE PROPERTY. 

The names of these grants are of Mexican or Indian origin, 
“El Tejon” signifying the badger; “Los Alamos,” the elm 
trees, and “Los Liebres,” the hare; while the “Castaac” is 
supposed to be of Indian derivation, and is of unknown signifi¬ 
cance. This magnificent estate is the property of Gen. E. F. 
Beale, late United States Minister to Austria. This great 
tract is composed exclusively of mountain and foot-hill lands, 
and their chief value is for grazing purposes. They are, no 
doubt, too, rich in various minerals, as the great chain which 
composes them is known to be, both north and south of the 
boundaries. The proprietor has never encouraged prospecting, 
however, on his property, and nothing of value has been devel¬ 
oped. It is not likely that if some accident were to reveal a 
valuable deposit of mineral on the grants, it would become 
known, for various reasons, for a long time. 

There is a great body of fine timber on the Tejon, and Gen¬ 
eral Beale may boast of owning as fine and possibly as exten¬ 
sive hunting-grounds as there are on any private estate in the 
United States. There is very little arable land on the estate, 
and it is entirely devoted to stock-raising, for which purpose 
it has no superior in the State. 

At the point of meeting of the two great chains, the Sierra 
Nevada and the Coast Range, the topography of the country 
presents a peculiar appearance, as of a long, rolling swell of 
the sea, suddenly intercepted and broken into confused and 
distracted fragments. Contrary to expectations, there are few 
precipitous places. On the western side the rise of the range 
is more abrupt, but on the eastern side the country falls away 
in dwindling hillocks until lost in the wide and weary wastes 
of the Mojave Desert. This is the great feeding-ground for 
stock. The very summits yield abundant and luxuriant 
grasses. 

The Tejon Ranch is the residence of General Beale, when¬ 


ever he is at home; and it is situated a few hours’ ride from 
Bakersfield, at an elevation of 500 feet. A fine view of the 
valley is obtained from this location. All kinds of semi- 
tropical fruits grow here in great variety. Many settlers have 
found desirable locations near this ranch, both in this and Los 
Angeles County. Up the mountain are many nice farms in 
the small valleys, and further on are found fine forests. The 
old and noted Fort Tejon Stage Station is on one of Beale’s 
ranches. 


Rivers and Lakes. - 

KERN RIVER. 

This stream, from which the county derives its name, was 
formerly termed by the Mexicans Rio Bravo. It derived its 
present name from a Lieutenant Kern, formerly one of Fre¬ 
mont’s exploring party. It is one of the largest of the Sierra 
Rivers, and gives to this region, in a system of interior lakes, 
a notoriety arising from so peculiar a characteristic. It 
traverses nearly the entire county, passing from east to west, 
entering it near Walker’s Pass on the east, and emptying into 
Goose Lake at the base of the Coast Range on the west. 

This magnificent stream that pours a constant, mighty flood 
of water into this capacious valley is, next to the Sacramento, 
the longest river in the State, and flows from sources that are 
as certain and never-failing as the recurring seasons. It takes 
its rise principally among the loftiest peaks of the Sierra Nevada, 
Mts. King, Tyndal, Williamson, and Whitney. Thence it 
pursues its way southward between ridges of the Sierras, in 
the direction of Walker’s Pass, when it bends to the westward, 
and enters the alluvial part of the valley near Bakersfield. 

Its size appears less than it really is, from the torrent-like 
rapidity of its course, which suggested its Spanish name, Rio 
Bravo, and which is kept up to the end, the fall from the foot¬ 
hills to the lakes being about ten feet to the mile. This, how¬ 
ever, together with low banks, adds to its value for irrigable 
purposes, making the diversion of water and its distribution 
over the country comparatively easy. As it takes its rise 
among the highest mountains on the continent, it is evident it 
must be principally supplied from the vast deposits of snow 
there accumulated. These feel the influence of the sun about 
the 1st of June, and from that time until the 20th of July, 
when it decreases, the volume of water which rolls into the 
valley, charged with sediment, is immense. The annual rise of 
Kern River is as opportune as that of the Nile. 

SIZE OF KERN RIVER. 

The meanderings of the stream make the length of the river 
from its source to the point at which it loses itself in Kern Lake 
a distance of over two hundred miles. One of its strongest' 
affluents is fed by the glaciers of Mt. Whitney. The course of 
the stream is almost southward for a distance of about a 







SIZE AND VALUE OF KERN RIVER. 


205 


hundred and fifty miles through the broken and irregular 
mountains of that part of the range, till it reaches a point 
nearly due east of Bakersfield, when it plunges precipitately 
through an inaccessible gorge or chasm in the mountain wall 
into the valley, and thence runs almost due west to the lakes. 
It has a vast water-shed to drain, and is sustained by the great 
deposits of snow in the mountains. It will be at once under¬ 
stood then that the supply of water is greatest long after the 
rainy season is over, when freshets and overflows prevail in 
other parts. Usually the real summer weather is deferred till 
the beginning or middle of June, and so the high water in Kern 
River follows the melting of the mountain snows. 

It spreads into devious channels, making a large delta, which 
is called Kern Island. So capricious is the stream that a slight 
impediment made it fly of on a tangent, a few years ago, cut¬ 
ting a new channel, whose mouth was fifty-five miles from 
that of its original bed. Kern and Buena Vista Lakes receive 
the .water of the ifiver, and, in turn, discharge it into Tulare 
Lake. Some of the most productive farms in all California 
have been made on Kern Island, within the past few years, 
where naught but grass and sage brush formerly grew. This 
has been accomplished by means of a liberal expenditui'e of cap¬ 
ital in the construction of irrigating canals, which now ramify 
all parts of the island. Without irrigation very little would 
be produced in Kern County. An ample supply of water is 
furnished by Kern River, which has a drainage area of 2,382 
square miles. The annual rain-fall of the valley rarely exceeds 
three to four inches, which is insufficient to mature any 
kind of crops. There are a number of large ranches under 
cultivation and irrigation. 

PERILOUS PASSAGE OF KERN RIVER GORGE. 

The redeeming feature of Kern County is the noble river 
that heads in the mountain fastnesses of Tulare County, and 
breaks through the titanic hills down a steep precipitous 
gorge, descending many thousand feet in a few miles and 
rolling out upon the plains a life-giving flood. But one living 
man ever passed through this canon. 

We give the following graphic account of this trip taken 
from the Californian :— 

“Mr. Warren Frazier last week performed a feat which in 
the annals of the country has never before been achieved by 
man—the passage of the gorge of Kern River. The Rio Bravo, 
which was the name bestowed upon it by our Spanish prede¬ 
cessors in the possession of the country—signifying bold and 
powerful—after passing its devious course among rugged and 
inaccessible mountains, deep and rock}- canons, plunges through 
a rift as it were in the main range of the Sierra and escapes 
into the great valley. Man}' attempts have been made to fol¬ 
low it through this dark and forbidding chasm, but without 
success. At its very entrance the raging water hissed and 
howled a fierce remonstrance, and from its dark, mysterious 


recesses a warning thunder came that might well appall the 
rash adventurer who sought to penetrate its ominous depths. 

“Tradition tells of many unwilling and unfortunate victims 
who have been swept into its cavernous jaws, of whom no 
shred or sign has e’er come back to waiting comrades. The 
river is now at about its lowest, and the time for the attempted 
passage, therefore, was most propitious. Mr. Frazier has long 
contemplated the project, and had chosen the time with that 
view. Preparing himself with only a trusty staff and a short 
rope, he entered the gorge about thirteen miles above its mouth. 
Although this is not the entire length of it, Mr. Frazier believed 
it the only difficult portion to traverse. The water, confined to 
its narrow and rocky channel, is deep and dangerous, but in 
most places the water had receded sufficient to permit him to 
pass along the bottom. In some places he was confronted by 
perpendicular precipices hundreds of feet in height, when he 
was compelled to retreat and surmount by gradual approaches, 
finding equal difficulty again in descending. His rope did him 
good service for he was enabled to let himself down when his 
progress would have been effectually debarred without it. 

“Having once embarked in the hazardous enterprise, retreat 
was impossible, and the conviction that he could hope for no 
human assistance—that he must accomplish the passage or 
perish—inspired him with renewed energy to overcome 
obstacles that seemed to multiply and grow more formidable 
at every step. Four times during the descent the walls of the 
canon closed in on him so effectually that his only escape was 
by swimming the river. 

“In places this was extremely perilous, as he was liable to be 
swept into rapids, over falls, or into eddies, and bruised or 
drowned before he could extricate himself. His only safety 
lay in the comparatively small volume of water in the river; 
and as it was he was most fortunate to escape without a serious 
mishap. In its passage through the canon the river falls very 
fast, and the current therefore is very rapid. In several places 
there are perpendicular drops of ten or fifteen feet, while in 
others the river rolls its tumultuous and resistless torrent with 
a shock and roar of thunder. Finally after eight hours of toil 
and danger, Mr. Frazier reached the mouth of the canon, an 
exhausted but triumphant man. He frankly confesses that 
his curiosity is satisfied, and that if he had known what an 
undertaking he had before him, he should never have attempted 
the passage of the Kern River Gorge.” 

BUENA VISTA AND KERN LAKES. 

The area of Kern Lake, at an elevation of about 287 or 288 
feet, is 8,298 acres; and of Buena Vista Lake, 16,130 acres. 
Their present elevation is 282 to 284 feet, and their area one- 
fourth to one-third that given in the above figures. They are 
shallow, and fringed with a border of swamp lands, and are 
almost unapproachable on the south and west, on account of 
the deep, slimy ooze composing their banks and bottom. Their 






20G 


THE AGRICULTURAL OUTLOOK. 


present maximum depth is six to ten feet. The slough con¬ 
necting them is deep and tortuous, 100 to 150 feet wide, and 
twelve to thirteen miles long, with firm banks of tule sod three 
to five feet high. The lakes, occupying the lowest part of the 
valley, naturally receive the drainage of the irrigated lands of 
Kern Island, which furnishes a partial equivalent to the great 
loss resulting from evaporation. They have a natural high- 
water outlet, through Buena Vista Slough, toward Tulare Lake, 
but this outlet has been cut off by a levee thrown across the 
head of Buena Vista Lake, preventing the river from dis¬ 
charging into it, or any water escaping therefrom. 

In the vicinity of Buena Vista Lake the land has the ap¬ 
pearance of being very fertile. It is very uniform in surface 
and slope, but is underlaid with a deposit of alkali, which, 
with irrigation, is brought to the surface as a thick, white 
efflorescence, destroying vegetation. With good drainage and 
skillful application of water, the alkali may ultimately be 
washed out. An experiment on an extensive scale, made a 
few years ago, proved a failure, after an expenditure of some 
$20,000 in ditching, preparation of land, etc., and it is possible 
that the soil is irreclaimable at reasonable cost. 

OTHER RIVERS AND STREAMS. 

There are several small streams flowing into Kern Valley on 
the east and south, which may be utilized for irrigation to a 
large extent, if the waters were properly collected, and the 
supply SUved and developed. 

The largest of these intermittent streams is Caliente Creek, 
which, however, is a torrent for a short period, and dry during 
the greater portion of the year. 

TEJON PASS CREEK. 

Tejon Pass Creek carries, in ordinary seasons, a considerable 
volume of water, until May or June each season. It discharges 
about seven and one-half cubic feet per second at the Tejon Res¬ 
ervation, where it is used for the irrigation of six aci'es of or¬ 
chard, and seventy-five acres of alfalfa and grain. A number of 
Tejon Indians have homes along the stream above the reser¬ 
vation, and use its waters for irrigating small patches of gar¬ 
den and grain, amounting to nearly fifty acres altogether. 

Tejon Creek has about the same volume as the former, and 
is also used to some extent by the Indians for the irrigation of 
their small gardens. Both these streams are clear, beautiful 
mountain brooks, tumbling rapidly into the valley, and disap¬ 
pearing in their rocky beds as they emerge from the foot-hills. 

OTHER MINOR STREAMS. 

The Tecolla, Canada de las Uvas, and the San Emidio 
Creeks are the three other most important mountain streams 
that drain into the basin of Kern Valley from the south. 
They are used to some extent for irrigation. The foot-hill 
lands which these streams can be made to supply, are well 
adapted for fruit growing, and have a salubrious climate. 


•Agricultural Resources. 

Probably no part of the Pacific Coast is so apt to produce 
a favorable impression on the mind <>f the traveler of agricult¬ 
ural proclivities, as "the delta of Kern River. A small part of 
it only is under cultivation, but the irrigating canals, having 
filled the soil with water to within a few feet of the surface, 
its latent fertility is developed, and the uncultivated portions 
are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and vegetation, 
while the occasional fields of alfalfa that are met with, present¬ 
ing still ranker and more attractive expanses of verdure, give 
practical illustration of what the soil is capable, if the nat¬ 
ural promise were not sufficient. The growth of trees is par¬ 
ticularly strong and vigorous, and the number that have sprung 
up and attained to considerable size within a few years is 
remarkable. 

Many parts of the delta have already assumed the appear¬ 
ance of well-wooded tracts, and doubtless, if there were noth¬ 
ing to check the natural process going on, they would soon 
become cottonwood forests. The soil is a friable loam—not the 
hard, stubborn adobe that prevails in many other valleys of 
the State; and the stranger sees nothing in present appear¬ 
ances, which have gradually come about by the filling of the 
soil with water, to indicate its fertility and capacity for pro¬ 
duction. 

VALLEY IN NATIVE STATE. 

It is within the memory of many now in Kern County, and 
comparatively only a few years ago, when vast herds of wild 
horses roamed over the San Joaquin Plains, in native freedom. 
Great droves ot elk and antelope, too, at certain seasons, found 
their way to the rich pastures along the streams. Only a few 
years ago, deer were found in the thickets on Kern River, 
within a couple of miles of Bakersfield. But the wild horses 
and the elk have been driven from their domain by the en¬ 
croachments of man, the common enemy. The latter have 
left many evidences of recent tenancy, in the shape of splendid 
lull-grown antlers of extraordinary size and symmetry. Ant¬ 
elopes are still to be found on the plains, but are rapidly dis¬ 
appearing. 

But the native animals did not monopolize this great feed¬ 
ing ground. It was the old Spanish missionaries that intro¬ 
duced common horned cattle, as, indeed, they did also the 
horses. The missions were founded along the coast, and the 
locations selected betoken an accurate knowledge of the entire 
country, as well as a great deal of business craft and wisdom, 
as they have invariably been found to occupy the best and 
most eligible sites. 

They turned their cattle loose and let them roam and multi¬ 
ply. They found their way through the Coast Range, and 
out into the great valley of the San Joaquin. Here they 







■ _ 


£LU0Tr.UTH. t *2i MONl-ST. 


JEWETT'S RANCH, PROPERTY OF S. JEWETT, BAKERS FIELO, KERIM CO. CAL 


iMi 











































































































































































































STOCK-RAISING- IN KERN COUNTY. 


207 


increased with incredible rapidity, and we find the missions 
at their annual rodeo, branding their hundreds of thousands of 
cattle and horses. Sheep were of later introduction, but these 
did not constitute so great a source of wealth as cattle. 

EARLY STOCK-RAISING. 

Under the sj^stem of stock-raising practiced in this State, 
and which had come down to us from the early Mexican times, 
the valley had become the feeding ground for hundreds of 
thousands of wild cattle. Once a year those who claimed 
them would gather them in the general rodeo, brand their 
calves, and drive off what they wanted, while they turned the 
remainder loose to run another year, and increase and multiply 
as they might. Their claimants and owners lived in adjacent, 
some of them in remote counties, paid little or no taxes in this 
count}', and probably evaded it everywhere. The land 
belonged to the Government, and when the settler, seeking to 
make a home for himself and family, pre-empted his quarter- 
section and went to work to cultivate it, he found that he must 
dispute possession inch by inch with hordes of predatory cattle. 
No f nce that he could erect would protect his scanty crops. 
An appeal to the owners to take their cattle awav was 
met with derision, and much bad feeling between the stock 
and agricultural interests was the result. The people sought 
relief in the shape of a trespass law known as the “No Fence 
Law.” Hon. T. Fowler, who was one of the chief of the cattle 
owners, managed to get returned as Senator from this District, 
and became the champion of the cattle men in the Legislature, 
and so vigorously did he prosecute his designs that he success¬ 
fully resisted all efforts to obtain the passage of a relief law 
With the expiration of his term, however, though he desired 
to succeed himself and ran again, the people utterly repudiated 
him, and the result was that the next Legislature gave the 
much coveted and long-sought law. 

In this manner the stock-raising business originated, and the 
system then inaugurated has been perpetuated down to the 
present day, and is still largely practiced throughout the State. 
The land, however, heretofore occupied by wild cattle, has 
been found to be more valuable for agricultural purposes by 
the enterprising yankee, and the cattle interest has had to 
seek other pastures. The Kern Valley was one of the last 
great agricultural tracts in the State thus surrendered by the 
cattle men. They had enjoyed the undisturbed possession of 
the pasture so long that they thought they had acquired rights 
which were entitled to respect, and vigorously resisted any¬ 
thing that might interfere with them. 

They had been accustomed to make a triumphal march 
through the county once a year, gather their herds, brand 
their increase, and turn them loose to go on, driving off per¬ 
haps a few thousand of the finest to market to furnish them 
with pocket money. But the land was Government land, and 
the hardy settler seeking a home for himself and family saw 


that this was the place to do it. When, after many struggles, he 
obtained an enactment of the Legislature affording him some 
protection from the wild cattle, the general doom of the valley 
was foretold, and no doubt many honestly believed that the 
promotion of the agricultural interest involved the decadence 
of the cattle interest, and with that the general welfare. 

PROTECTION OF STOCK 

For the protection of the stock-raiser there has been formed 
the “Southern Californian Stock-Raisers Defense Asssocia- 
tion.” 

“Second—The object of said association shall be to procure 
information that will lead to the conviction of persons engaged 
in killing, wounding, or stealing horses or cattle belonging 
to members of the association, and to prosecute all such per¬ 
sons to conviction, and for the purposes aforesaid we mutually 
agree to do our best endeavors to accomplish the object afore¬ 
said.” 

“Any person engaged in raising horses or cattle, within the 
counties of Kern, Tulare, or Los Angeles, may become a mem¬ 
ber hereof by letter indicating his desire to do so, and all per¬ 
sons at the time they become such members, and at such other 
times as the Committee may require, shall furnish to the Sec¬ 
retary the number of cattle or horses owned by them.” 

The original members were: J. B. Haggin, J. C. Crocker, 
W. Canfield, E. F. Beale, Miller & Lux, W. B. Carr, J. S. Ellis, 
Sol. Jewett. 

At a meeting of the association held on the 11th day of 
November, 1882, Dr. G. F. Thornton was elected President, and 
A. C. Maude Secretary, and the following members were 
elected Executive Committee of said association, to wit: G. 
F. Thornton, J. C. Crocker, and R. M. Pogson. 

The old long-horned Spanish cattle are giving way and 
gradually disappearing. Stockmen have learned that it does 
not cost as much to feed gentle cattle of superior breed that 
will carry a thousand or twelve hundred pounds per head as 
it does to feed the big-boned Spanish cattle that will hardly 
kick the beam at the moiety of the former. There can be no 
doubt that in a few years the Kern Valley will be the great 
stock-breeding tract of the State. 

The sheep business has been very profitably conducted here 
for many years. As long as there were vast tracts of Govern¬ 
ment lands to feed on and no rent to pay, there was large 
profit in it, but the sheep men had no real interest in the 
county, and did little or nothing for its development. But as 
the land became settled, the wild range became circumscribed 
and constantly diminished, and the tendency has been, of course, 
to reduce the number of the flocks, to breed up and improve 
the wool and the mutton so that the business would pay an 
interest on the lands cultivated as well as the capital employed 
in the stock. This has been successfully done by several, and 
others are preparing to follow them as rapidly as they can. 






208 


PROGRESS OF KERN COUNTY 


PROGRESS FOR TEX YEARS. 


THE WHEAT CROP. 


At the time the cattle interest predominated, the assessment 
roll, fifteen years ago, showed a total of Si,500,000; now it is 
nearly 87,000,000. 

The following table gives the increase of resources of the 


county for one decade:— 

1S72 1S82 

Acres of land inclosed. 26,811 47,210 

Acres of land cultivated. 9,652 32,380 

Acres of wheat. 2,244 25,220 

Bushels of wheat. 38,433 361.000 

Acres of barley. 2,363 4,960 

Bushels of barley. 6,146 99,200 

Acres of corn. 1,039 1,842 

Bushels of corn. 19,830 52,600 

Acres of hay. 2,952 12,840 

Tons of hay. 3,801 18,320 

Acres of cotton. 40 92 

Pounds of cotton. 20,000 27,600 

Pounds of wool. 1,000,000 2,293,740 

Number of sheep. 127,020 382,290 

Number of grist mills. 3 7 

Bai’rels of Hour made. 8,000 12,000 

Bushels of corn ground. 2,000 5,800 

Number of saw mills. 5 3 

Feet of lumber sawed. 4,000,000 - 

Shingles. 40,000 400,000 

Number of quartz mills. 15 8 

Improvements. 8238,321 8312,804 

Personal property.81,328,637 81,599,838 

Railroad (assessed by State Board). . 81,237,215 

Total valuation.82,958,676 85,431,714 


The total acreage assessed in the county for 1882 is 1,117,421 
acres, at an average of 81.66 per acre. Irrigating ditches’at 
874,681, and mining claims at 85,410. The following is the 


number of stock and valuation for 1882 

— 

Valued at 

Number of cattle (stock). 

29,880 

8298,800 

“ calves. 

3,448 

10,635 

“ cows (thoroughbred). 

122 

3,800 

“ (graded). 

1,599 

31,980 

“ oxen. 

50 

2,240 

Total cattle of all kinds. 

35,099 

8347,455 

Number of horses (thoroughbred). 

17 

8 5,100 

“ (graded). 

3,146 

80,135 

“ “ (American). 

396 

25,070 

“ “ (colts). 

1,223 

18,893 

Jacks and Jennies. 

131 

2,356 

“ mules. 

488 

4,443 

Total number. 

5,401 

8135,997 

Number of goats (common). 

912 

8912 


The assessment roll for 1883 foots up 86,790,991, by putting 
the railroad taxes at the same rate as last year, and there is 
the assessment of the thirty-six miles of the branch railroad of 
the South Pacific extending from Mojave to the county line on 
the east, to be added, which has not yet been furnished by the 
State Board of Equalization. 

INCREASE IN POPULATION FOR TEN YEARS. 


By the general census of 1870 the population was 2,925, and 
that of 1880 gave a population of 5,601, an increase in ten 
years of 2,676, or in other words the county doubled its popu¬ 
lation in ten years. It is, however, very doubtful about the 
next ten years showing so great an increase. 


The wheat grown in the Kern Valley is of the most supe¬ 
rior quality, and it yields abundantly. The ears are very 
long and full, and the berry is the fattest and plumpest that 
we have ever seen. Fifty busheis to the acre is no uncommon 
return, while in many instances the yield is in excess of that. 
Wheat flourishes best, too, on our alkali soils, that kind of soil 
appearing to furnish the peculiar salts that wheat requires, in 
an eminent degree. 

The total quantity of wheat produced in Kern Valle} 7 in 1882 
was probably about 1,500 tons, of which all but 50 tons were 
manufactured in flour at the Bakersfield Mills. The millers 
say that irrigated wheat has a thicker skin, and yields more 
bran than that proluced by dry farms, and that the flour has 
a slightly darker color. Irrigation also toughens the straw and 
makes it harder to thresh. 

The cost of preparing land, sowing, irrigating, and harvest¬ 
ing a crop of wheat is estimated at from 85.75 to 88.25 per 
acre. The average yield of these cereals on the Belle View 
Ranch in 1878 was: Wheat, 27J bushels; barley, 32 bushels 
per acre—averaged over an area of about two thousand acres. 
In exceptionally favorable spots 90 bushels of barley and 50 
bushels of wheat per acre have been produced. 

INDIAN CORN. 


This is another plant the growth of which can no where be 
surpassed and scarcely equalled on the continent. The height 
of the stalk, the number and size of the ears, the quality and 
character of the grain, all justify this assumption. The same 
may be said of barley, wheat, and the small grains. Com¬ 
paratively little attention has been given heretofore to the pro¬ 
duction of small grains, but it is gratifying to observe a 
growing disposition to varied culture instead of cultivating one 
or two staples to the neglect and exclusion of others equally 
adapted. The usual plan is planting barley and harvesting it 
in May or June, and then planting the same ground to corn, 
which strongly illustrates the fecundity and strength of soil, 
and the beneficence of climate. The cost of a crop of corn in 
Kern County averages as follows :— 


Irrigation prior to planting, per acre. 

Plowmg, harrowing, and planting, per acre 

Cultivating, per acre. 

Suckering and hoeing, per acre. 

Irrigation, per acre. 

Husking and hulling to granary, per acre. 
Shelling (for yield of 30 bushels), per acre. 


8 .50 
2.35 
.25 
.60 
.50 
2.00 
2.00 


Total.88.20 

Average yield of shelled corn, 30 to 40 bushels per acre. The 
cost of cleaning the land of corn-stalks for another crop is 30 to 
50 cents per acre. 

Hops are found to flourish in a remarkable degree, and yield 
most bountifully. The product in size and quality is said to be 
unexcelled. The hop is very large, hangs in massive clusters, 





























































AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF KERN. 


209 


and carries a much larger proportion of lupulin—the active prin¬ 
ciple of the hop—than usual. There are especial advantages 
and inducements to engage in its culture here, owing to the dry¬ 
ness and heat of the climate. In most places it is necessary in 
curing hops to dry them in ovens and kilns built for the pur¬ 
pose, but for the reasons stated above it would not be necessary 
to employ that process here. There is no moisture in the air 
at night-time, and the hop can be cured here by the natural 
process of sun drying. The expense of kiln drying would thus 
be saved, while the quality of the hop would not be impaired, 
as it frequently is by the kiln-drying process. 

TREES, FRUITS, BERRIES. 

It will be well understood that all kinds of wood growth— 
trees, ,shrubs and vines of every variety suited to the conditions 
of the climate—reach an extraordinary development in an in¬ 
credibly short time. 

A view from the dome of the Court House, which overlooks 
the whole valley, shows their green outline in long narrow strips 
extending toward the west, subdividing the valley into dis¬ 
tinct tracts. These strips mark the line of the water-coui’ses, 
many of them, however, showing where the water formerly ran, 
but has now sought other channels. The numerous great ditches 
that have been carried over the county will soon, also, be lined 
with trees along their margins. The trees are valuable for 
fuel, and the growth is so rapid that the demands for such pur¬ 
poses will, we believe, always be equalled by the supply. 

They are valuable for fence posts, and are universally em¬ 
ployed for that purpose. The posts cut and set in the spring 
will immediately send out roots and establish themselves as 
trees. All that is required is to dig a trench along the line of 
fence to conduct the water and irrigate them freely the first* 
year. In low moist land it is not necessary even to do this. 
At the end of the second year there is a splendid row of trees. 

It is usual here to plant in such a manner that the cotton¬ 
wood and willow shall alternate. If properly cared for, and all 
the care required is to see that they do not suffer for water the 
first year, they will obtain a wonderful growth, branching out 
at the top in bushy profusion ten or twelve feet for a single 
year’s growth. The cuttings seem to do better and make a 
more rapid and vigorous development than the same variety 
if transplanted with the roots. Nearly all the fence posts in 
the valley are of this character, and the boundaries of the dif¬ 
ferent ranches are marked by lines of thrifty trees. They are 
thus not only highly useful, but ornamental, and in a compar¬ 
atively denuded country are very grateful to the eye. 

There are hundreds, probably thousands of acres in the valley 
that are overgrown with the switch willow, such as is used in 
the manufacture of baskets and every variety of willow-ware, 
that ought to be employed for this purpose. Most of our wil¬ 
low-ware comes from Holland. The willow is grown there on 
the banks of the dykes that dispute the possession of the low 


lands with the sea. It is carefully cultivated there, and a wil¬ 
low plantation is considered very valuable. The Hollanders 
are very skillful and dextrous in the use of the willow, some 
of their work being exquisitely delicate and fanciful. Kern 
can rival Holland in the production of the material—all that is 
needed is the energy, enterprise and skill to manufacture it. 

THE EUCALYPTUS TREE. 

Several varieties of the blue gum trees have been extensively 
planted during the last few years, and in their growth and 
thriftiness they have exceeded the highest anticipations. The 
rapid and luxuriant growth, the beauty of the tree, the fact that 
it is an evergreen, no less than the marvelous sanitary influence 
attributed to it, have made it a favorite. It emits a strong 
camphorous odor, and its influence in neutralizing the effects 
of malaria in the atmosphere seems to be a well attested and gen¬ 
erally recognized fact. The effect of tree-growth upon climate, 
the manner in which it affects the rain-fall and the temperature, 
are questions to which scientific inquiry has long been directed, 
and that it does perform an important part in the modification 
of the temperature, the conditions of moisture and the attrac¬ 
tions of clouds is a well-known and recognized fact. 

GRAPES, SMALL FRUIT, BERRIES. 

All small fruits are luxuriant in their growth, and abundant 
in their yield. Horticulture, however, is not an art that is as 
well understood here as in some older places, and much depends 
upon the choice of soil, the exposure to, or protection from, sun 
or wind, moisture, etc. A good deal of harm has no doubt been 
done by too copious irrigation and injudicious application. 
Those who have given the matter some attention, and wffiose 
experience entitles their opinion to some weight, advise the se¬ 
lection of the highest and dryest lands, with a soil in which 
there is a slight admixture of sand. Irrigation should be suffi¬ 
cient, but not too frequent. Trees under this treatment grow 
rapidly, mature early, and produce fruit superior in flavor and 
abundant in quantity. The same may be said of apples, pears, 
peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, and so on through the entire 
range of fruits usually found in the temperate girdle. 

Strawberries are almost perennial in their productiveness; 
the yield of blackberries is simply enormous; in the warm belt 
before alluded to, it is said that the tomato changes its charac¬ 
ter as an annual, and becomes perennial, developing into a 
shrub. 

Tobacco, rice, and ramie are also found to be suitable pro¬ 
ducts for this locality. Tobacco flourishes in the greatest lux¬ 
uriance and is destined to become an important product. 

Experiments in ramie culture also have beenattended with the 
most gratifying results. The discovery and operation of some 
mechanical contrivance or invention for denuding the stalk and 
dressing the fiber, would no doubt stimulate the production of 
this most valuable of all fibrous plants. The great strength, 
flexibility, firmness, and luster of the fiber render it invalua- 








210 


AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF KERN. 


ble. The Japanese employ it extensively mixed with silk, 
which it fairly rivals in appearance and delicacy, while it im¬ 
parts a strength and durability to the fabric heretofore unknown. 
They prepare it by hand process, and in the absence of machin¬ 
ery the supply must always remain limited. As there are com¬ 
paratively few places in which the plant flourishes, the advant¬ 
age of being one of them is at once apparent. 

In rice and sugar-cane, but little has been done, but it is 
agreed by all that the country seems to be well adapted to 
their profitable cure, and in the absence of any known reason 
to the contrary it is so claimed. 

The value of these various crops is dependent upon the rul¬ 
ing market rates of produce elsewhere. The local market 
has always been good, and the products of agriculture have 
either been converted into beef, mutton, and pork, or have 
been consumed at home. 

Of flowering plants, the most delicate exotics known in 
eastern hot-houses are seen in the open air. The growth of 
trees, vines, and ornamental shrubbery is exti'emely rapid. 

CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 

In 1871 an association was formed for the purpose of plant¬ 
ing and manufacturing cotton on the Kern River bottoms. 
The experiment of planting, which had before been tried on a 
very small scale, was again tried on a scale of more magnitude. 
A tract of land near Bakersfield was cleared and put in. But 
there was much difficulty in obtaining men of practical knowl¬ 
edge and experience in the culture of cotton, and consequently 
the project suffered greatly from bad management. The plant¬ 
ing was begun in April and through a series of blunders con¬ 
tinued till July. One of the great advantages claimed for 
this section is the length of the season. We have no rains or 
frosts as a general thing, from April till November. 

That which was planted in the early part of the season ma¬ 
tured finely and yielded a crop of over 400 pounds of ginned 
cotton to the acre- To be added to the difficulties experienced 
on this occasion was that of irrigation. Those who had charge 
of the planting had no knowledge whatever, either practical 
or theoretical, of a proper system of irrigation. They had 
never raised cotton by irrigation, and knew absolutely nothing 
of the manner of application of water by such a process to the 
production of cotton. The result, however, plainly demon¬ 
strated if cotton can be produced under such adverse circum¬ 
stances, that in the hands of intelligent culturists and persons 
who understand such culture by means of irrigation, when the 
peculiarities of the climate and soil were better understood, it 
would be, perhaps, the most remunerative and profitable en¬ 
terprise that could be engaged in. 

The extent of cotton cultivation, Belle View Ranch, was 130 
acres in 1880. The cotton was of a superior quality. A gin 
of the latest and most improved pattern is used. Picking con¬ 
tinues as long as 100 pounds per day is averaged by each hand. 


CULTURE OF ALFALFA. 

The experiments made in Kern County show that the rais¬ 
ing of alfalfa is a much better business than wheat raising. 
The large farmers there appear to be pretty well agreed that 
it is advisable to raise only so much grain as will be needed for 
the home market. It is not desirable to raise grain for ship¬ 
ment, except to the neighboring mining districts. In short, the 
policy of farming which largely obtains in Kern County is 
one which makes the farmer independent in a great measure 
of the railroad company. Grain for the local market requires 
no railroad transportation. Cattle and sheep feed on alfalfa 
and are driven to market, the wool only going by railroad. 

Alfalfa is the great forage plant of the valley. Here all the 
peculiar conditions it requires are found in perfection. Accord¬ 
ingly it is cultivated to a greater extent than elsewhere, and 
merits the distinction applied to it of the great alfalfa region 
of the State. It does best on alluvial soil, penetrable by the 
roots to the water level, which should not be nearer than seven 
or ten feet of the surface, and requires a hot, dry climate. The 
simple truth in regard to its capabilities is sufficient to excite 
the liveliest interest in the mind of the farmer, grazier, or any 
one in search of sources of profit or wealth. It will make 
four crops of good hay between the months of May and October. 
All domestic animals, including poultry, are fond of and thrive 
and fatten upon it. Bees love the blossoms. Fields of it im¬ 
part pleasant odors, a cooling influence, and have a healthy 
effect on the atmosphere. It has been known to yield from 
ten to sixteen tons of hay to the acre, and furnishes pasturage 
several months of the year additional. 

Alfalfa, Lucerne (meclicago saliva ).—This plant was cul¬ 
tivated in Greece 500 years before Christ, having been brought 
from Media. Later it was extensively cultivated by the 
Romans, and through them introduced into France. By whom 
it was introduced into Chile is not now known positively, but 
its cultivation there at present is very extensive; and in the 
pampas of Buenos Ayres it grows wild in the utmost luxuriance. 
From Chile it was brought to California, whei’e it has proved 
itself the most valuable of all forage plants. In Europe it is 
known as lucerne, and on the Pacific Coast as alfalfa. There 
is no doubt that originally they were the same, but the modi¬ 
fications of climate have so affected what we know or style 
alfalfa, that it may be regarded as a distinct variety. It sends 
down its tap-roots in mellow soils to great depths, having been 
found in sandy soils fifteen feet in length—far below the reach 
of drought. The flowers are a pale blue, violet or purple. Its 
seed is larger than red clover, and more of it is required to the 
acre. When the seed is ripe it is yellow, plump, and heavy; if 
unripe, it is small, and of a greenish hue; and if blighted or 
blasted, it is a dark brown. When properly managed, the 
number of cattle that can be kept in good condition on an acre 
of alfalfa, during the whole season, almost exceeds belief. 















































































































































































































THE MIXES OF KERN COUNTY. 


211 


WONDERFUL GROWTH OF ALFALFA. 

Ten years ago there were not probably two acres of alfalfa 
in the county, and to-day there are probably not less than 10,000 
acres. The stories told of its productiveness to the sober New 
England farmer who thinks himself fortunate to get one scanty 
crop of timothy from his exhausted acres, seem but the irre¬ 
sponsible utterances of the lunatic. When he is told that 
alfalfa, if properly cultivated, must be cut every twenty-one 
days or else it will spoil, he smiles and exclaims in admiration; 
but his admiration is not at the alfalfa feat, but at that of the 
man who can lie like that. When he is told that five to seven 
crops of hay to the season is the rule, that a crop is from a 
ton and a half an acre to two tons, and that it may then be past¬ 
ured during the winter months by cattle or sheep at the rate 
of two or three of the former and ten or fifteen of the latter to 
the acre, he merely speculates as to which is the greater fool, 
the man who tells this expecting to be believed, or the poor 
dupe who yields a credulous ear. And yet these are the simple 
facts, that can be corroborated by hundreds from their own 
experience. 

The culture of alfalfa has undoubtedly been carried on to a 
greater extent here than anywhere else in the State. Every 
settler on a quarter or an eight of a section of Government 
land immediately applied himself to the planting of a patch of 
alfalfa, large or small according to his ability. The reason 
lay in the fact that it was the most profitable crop that he 
could plant. Once planted and attended to through one sea¬ 
son it required little attention ever afterward, except to cut it 
at proper times. There was no outlay each year for plowing 
and planting. Each succeeding year it grew more luxuriantly 
and yielded more abundantly as its roots penetrated the rich 
alluvium and reached the natural moisture. After that it 
requires no irrigation and this is usually achieved the first year, 
if it is planted upon low lands. 

The following figures show the average cost per acre of pro- 
ducino - alfalfa on the Belle View Ranch:— 

O 

Preparing land, plowing, harrowing, cross-harrowing, 


and pulverizing soil. 8 3.00 

Seed, 20 tbs. per acre, @ 10 cts. per lb. 2.00 

Sowing.20 

Labor of three irrigations, first year.50 


Total. $ 5.70 


Average yield, first year, in three cuttings, four tons; second 
year, six tons; subsequent years, ten to twelve tons. Value, 
$5.00 @ 810.00 per ton. 

In 1875, a tract was sown with alfalfa and wheat together, 
the wheat yielding 40 bushels per acre, and the alfalfa three tons 
in two cuttings. But one irrigation was required to produce 
this result, and the case is not an exceptional one. 

An acre of alfalfa is always considered capable of supporting 
five head of horses or cattle, or twenty head of sheep, through 
the growing season—nine or ten months of the year. 


Mines of Kern County. 

Gold was discovered as early as 1853 in the tributaries of the 
Kern River, many of which contain rich placers. These were 
soon worked out, and attention was then directed to quartz 
mining, and many valuable leads have been found and worked 
with great profit for many years. The whole mountain range, 
ribbing the county on the east and south, is rich in mineral. 

At the time of discovery they were distant from any base of 
supplies; the country was unsettled; mining machinery and 
everything else had to be brought a long distance, over bad 
roads, at the cost of much labor, time, and expense; mining was 
but little understood, and the county failed to attract capital 
or a population of skilled and energetic miners; but little was 
done to develop the mines, and that badly done, mining fell into 
disrepute, the better class of miners left the county to tempt 
fortune in other localities, and those who remained lapsed into 
apathy and indifference, and the many rich ledges known to 
exist in the county remain yet almost entirely unprospected. 

In the southern inclosure of the great valley in what are 
called the San Emidio Mountains, where the Sierra Nevada 
and Coast Range meet and merge into the Sierra Madre, is a 
region of which comparatively little is known other than that 
it is rich in various minerals. Rich gold placers had been found 
and worked in Lockwood Valley on the Piru Creek and its 
tributaries, the scarcity of sufficient water for washing pur¬ 
poses during the greater portion of the year being the only draw¬ 
back. 

Valuable deposits of tin, antimony, silver-bearing galena and 
gold-bearing quartz have been found. Boushay & Co., of Los 
Angeles, erected works and successfully worked the antimony 
mines. 

A RICH OLD MINE. 

A well authenticated tradition exists that a very valuable 
silver mine was found in these mountains and worked by the 
Indians under direction of the Mexican padres long before the 
American occupation of the country. The crafty padres, how¬ 
ever, kept the location a profound secret, which it remains to 
this day, notwithstanding much search has been expended in 
the endeavor torecoverthe lost mine. The valuable church plate 
of the mission of San Luis Obispo was brought from this place. 
The remains of the old furnaces emplo} r ed for reducing the ore 
have been found, but all efforts to discover the mines have proven 
futile. The surface of this part of the country is exceedingly 
rough, lofty and inexcessible mountains and precipitous and im¬ 
penetrable chasms impeding the progress of the explorer at 
every turn. Still, enough is known about it to warrant the 
assertion that it would richly repay the adventurous pi'ospector. 

KERNVILLE MINES. 

The following article printed in 1875 will show how mining 
operations were at that date. It says “ the mine at Ivernville, 













212 


MINERAL PRODUCTIONS OF KERN. 


owned by Senator Jones, is located near the little town ot' Kern- 
ville, in Kern County, and was first opened some seven or eight 
years ago. It underwent a variety of fluctuations, until it fell 
entirely into the hands of its present owner. When Mr. Jones 
purchased alltheinterestsoutstanding—about a year since—he at 
once commenced to unfold its treasures. He sank a deep 
shaft, ran winzes and stopes in various directions, made 
convenient levels and crosscuts at various points, and pros¬ 
pected the entire ledge for two miles and a half, and found it 
rich in gold at every point. It has an average breadth of 80 
feet, and the main shaft has been sunk 400 feet—all the way 
in ore. The ledge varies in value from 825.00 to 8300 per ton. 
Itis now estimated by the men in the mine that there isore enough 
in sight to furnish work for the stamps now in operation for 
ten years. The mill and hoisting-works are pronounced the 
best in California. An eighty-stamp mill, with every improve¬ 
ment known to modern mining science, is kept in constant op¬ 
eration—never ceasing either night or day—and it is turning 
out a vast amount of bullion. Of course it is only known to 
the proprietor and his chief operatoi’S how much the yield is; 
but if we strike an average of the ore, and allow one ton a day 
to each stamp, it would give a gross yield from this mine, with 
the present works, of 84,500,000.” 

DELANO GOLD MINES. 

This is a rich mining district, and only needs capital to de¬ 
velop it. The first mine worked here was discovered as fol¬ 
lows: Some twelve years ago, a man by the name of Johnson 
was riding along, when he suddenly came across a beautiful 
specimen of dark blue ore—the characteristic rock which now 
forms the ledge—near a squirrel hole, which led him to believe 
that there must be a lead somewhere near, and he ran his hand 
in the hole, when, to his surprise he brought forth another piece. 

From that time up, the mine has been worked now and then; 
but the men being poor, as a rule, and the water plentiful, it 
has been abandoned several times. 

Kern County presents to-day as rich, sure, and safe a field 
for quartz mining as an}*- other in either this State or Nevada. 
The climate here is exceptionally fine and healthful; the mines 
are of easy access, and only a short distance from the largest 
and most fertile agricultural valley in the State, and unusu¬ 
ally well supplied with wood, water-power, and every facility 
for successful mining operations; the ledges are numerous, uni¬ 
formly rich and easily worked, and it is a matter of amazement 
that they have remained so long unworked and without noto¬ 
riety. 

PETROLEUM DEPOSITS. 

There is every indication of the existence of immense reser¬ 
voirs of petroleum in the western part of Kern County. The 
bituminous shales and sandstone formation are identical with 
those of the oil regions of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and 
considerable oil exudes from the surface in hundreds of places. 


At one point petroleum had been collected from springs to the 
extent of several thousand barrels, of a heavier and less vola¬ 
tile character than the hydro-carbons of the East. Asphaltum 
also covers thousands of acres of land. 

In the extreme southwestern corner of the countv are the 
Buena Vista Petroleum Works. They were erected some 
years ago by a Mariposa company, but for some reason the 
enterprise was suspended, and still remains so. Great quanti¬ 
ties of asphaltum and oil are constantly oozing from the earth 
and flowing away; the oil being very volatile soon evaporates, 
leaving the dry, hard residuum on the ground. At several 
other places in the valley and the foot-hills there are oil springs 
of the same character. One has been discovered in the bed of 
Kern River a few miles above Bakersfield. 

Asphaltum deposits occupy an extent of country nearly 
forty miles in length, extending from the eastern corner of 
Santa Barbara County to Buena Vista Lake on the north. 
The most extensive of the petroleum deposits lies to the south¬ 
east of this lake, a distance of about eighteen miles. Here is 
a spring, covering nearly an acre, of thick, heavy oil, termed 
maltha. The surface is constantly agitated by the escape of 
gas. Works were erected here in 1804, for the purpose of 
refining oil for the San Francisco market. After manufactur¬ 
ing some thousands of gallons of oil of good quality, the work 
was abandoned, as the cost of sending it to market enhanced 
its value to such a degree as to render successful competition 
with the article shipped from the Eastern States impossible. 

The first oil claim located was in 1864, by John Hamilton, 
of Tulai-e County. Illuminating and lubricating oil of good 
quality was manufactured, but transportation to market was 
so costly it was abandoned. The place was left in charge of 
Stephen Bond, who kept a small store. He was murdered, 
and the place was neglected until the Buena Vista Companv 
formed as stated above. 

The oil spring is situated in the hills that form Antelope 
Valley. The oil is about the color of tar. It has been run¬ 
ning for ages, and the ground for thirty acres is covered at a 
depth of from two to thirty feet of asphaltum. The oil gath¬ 
ers together, and runs down in a little stream which appears 
like water at a distance, and birds alight ; ng are held fast in 
the treacherous asphaltum. Hundreds of birds perish annually. 
Hares and rabbits are also stuck fast in the thick oil. The 
bones of one grizzly have been found imbedded. 

In 1877 several oil companies were formed. One of these 
was the Visalia Oil and Petroleum Company, which filed 
articles of incorporation; capital stock, 8500,000. Divided in 
5,000 shares of 8100 each. Directors, J. J. Mack, Spier Jack- 
son, D. B. James, R. H. Stevens, F. Bacon. President, F. 
Bacon; Treasurer, J. W. Crowley; Secretary, J. J. Mack. 

hev commenced boiin^, and evidently meant business. An 
assessment of twenty cents per share was levied. 






DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


213 


Towns and Villages of Kern. 

HAVILAH, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT. 

This old town is situated forty.-five miles northeast of 
Bakersfield, and was once the most important town in the 
county and the county seat. It is situated on Clear Creek, a 
small stream tributary to Kern River, which it enters from 
the south. Its position is inaccessible, it lying in a cleft or 
defile of the mountains. Its resources are entirely of a min¬ 
eral character, and it is the center of a large and richly paying 
mining region. Havilah is named from a place mentioned in 
Genesis, where a land of gold is for the first time alluded to. 

It was in the spring of the year 1864 that Havilah sprang 
into existence. A number of leads were discovered in the 
immediate vicinity, and an intense excitement immediately 
blazed out, of which the Havilah Mines were the focus. Many 
mills were erected, and numerous leads were worked with 
varying success. Times were good; money was abundant. 
An ephemeral prosperity lingered with Havilah, but the 
excitement soon subsided and a general decadence of the min¬ 
ing interests took place. It was difficult and expensive to get 
machinery on the ground, and as soon as the croppings were 
worked out and it became necessary to go deeper, the expenses 
of excavation and reduction would no longer tally with the 
returns. 

The town, at its height of prosperity, consisted of two 
stores, two hotels, two saloons, a butcher shop, blacksmith 
shop, shoemaker shop, brewery, livery stable, express, and 
post-office. 

The Havilah weekly Courier was printed here in 1857. In 
January, 1872, the Havilah Miner was issued and edited by 
DeWitt C. Lawrence. The material and staff of this journal 
moved to Bakersfield in June, 1874, and established itself over 
Mix’ drug store. 

Kernville lies sixty miles northeast of Bakersfield. It is 
quite a thriving place. Near it are a dozen or more important 
quartz ledges, on man}' of which extensive mills have been in 
operation for several years, the yield being handsome. It is 
now, and has been for a number of years, one of the most 
flourishing mining towns in the State. The Sumner Mine is 
the principal, in fact, the only mine that sustained this popu¬ 
lous settlement. It is owned by Senator John P. Jones, the 
bonanza millionaire. The lead was discovered in 1860, but was 
never properly worked till it fell into the hands of the present 
owner. Many other locations were made originally, but these 
were bought up from time to time till the Sumner Mining 
Company owned the entire lead for some four miles—as far as 
it can be traced—and has a U. S. patent for it. It will be 
seen then that the supply of ore is practically inexhaustible. 


J. W. Sumner, of Kernville, was the discoverer of the mine. 
He is a pioneer of Kern mines. The Sumner Mine is the most 
important mining interest ever operated in the county. The 
mines of this section are described more accurately elsewhere. 
Eight years ago it was described as follows: “About a mile 
from Kernville, on the river, stands the wonder of the mining 
world, and that is the new eighty-stamp mill, put up by E. 
Burke. It is a grand effort of mechanical skill. It is running 
to its full capacity, night and day. Some improvement on the 
primitive crusher. To think of eighty stamps and all the 
numerous pans. The mine is an immense fissure in the earth 
that yields rich rock, and an everlasting supply, and will con¬ 
tinue to do so for generations to come. It is solely through 
the efforts of Mr. Burke that this monster mill, that is 
undoubtedly the best in the world, and this wonderful mine is 
being developed. It is worked by about 150 men in eight- 
hour shifts, so that the work goes on without cessation. The 
populous and thriving town of Kernville has grown up, and is 
almost entirely dependent upon the operation of this mine.” 

The town of Kernville is situated on a bench of the north 
fork of Kern River. There are some pretty neat little resi¬ 
dences on the outskirts, and the town has the compact, busi¬ 
ness-like appearance of a populous and thriving mining town. 
There are some five or six stores, several of them carrying large 
stocks and doing an extensive general business,three hotels, four 
saloons, a fine brewery, two livery stables, a wagon-makihg 
shop, two blacksmith shops, a barber shop, two butcher shops, 
a shoemaker shop, express and post-offices. 

Alvin Fay is an attorney-at-law, prepared to attend to any 
business intrusted to his care, in the mines or elsewhere. He 
is also Notary Public. 

Other branches of business, not here enumerated, are 
also represented. At the mines there are miner’s boarding¬ 
houses and saloons that may properly be classed as belonging 
to Kernville. 

VIEWS OF KERNVILLE. 

On another page will be found three views of Kernville’s 
business places and residences. 

The Kernville House, the leading hotel of the place, is 
kept by N. P. Peterson. Here travelers find ample accommoda¬ 
tions at reasonable rates. He is familiar with the surround¬ 
ing country and can give full particulars of the neighborhood, 
and of the location of mines to strangers. 

The Kernville Brewery forms another of the illustrations 
of this town. In front on the street is the saloon, and in the 
rear is a neat brewery building. This is the property of 
William Cook, who has resided in Kernville for a long time. 

R. H. Evans, one of the Supervisors of the county, resides 
here in a neat cottage residence, which makes one of our best 
views. Immediately in the rear of his residence will be seen 
the tops of mountains that surround the town. 













214 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


R. H. Evans was born in the town of Berkley, Massachusetts. 
He attended the public schools until thirteen years of age, then 
went to the town of Taunton, to learn the trade of calico 
printing. After working about six months, he found it impos¬ 
sible to submit to the abuse of his English boss, who had a 
great contempt for all things American, and especially for 
American boys. 

He left the print-works and returned home, and after going 
one year to a private school, taught by Rev. Thomas Andros, 
of Berkley, returned to Taunton, and learned the trade of 
machinist and engineer, and continued to follow the business 
until 1849, when the great gold excitement took so many from 
their homes to the Pacific Coast. 

He sailed from Bristol, Rhode Island, February 19, 1849, in 
the bark Anne, Capt. William Cobb; came round Cape Horn, 
stopping at Pernambuco three days, and a week at Valparaiso, 
and arriving in San Francisco August 29, 1849. 

After a few of those exciting days of early times, he started 
for the southern mines by way of Stockton, and did his first 
gold digging at Hawkins’ Bar, on the Tuolumne River, Sep¬ 
tember 12th. Made about two ounces per day until the last of 
November. The rainy season had set in and the river had 
overflowed its banks, and he did not know at that date that 
there was any gold to be found only along the river-courses. 
So he sold out claims and provisions, of which he had a good 
supply on hand, at eighty cents a pound, and started for San 
Francisco to spend the winter. 

On the 1st of March he started for the Yuba, with a small 
stock of merchandise; was ten days going to Marysville, and 
four or five days more found him located on Long Bar on the 
Yuba River, in company with H. W. Fales, in the merchandise 
business. A few months latter he bought out Mr. Fales,he going 
to Downey ville. Mr. Evans remained on Long and Parks Bar for 
a number of years, and made money store-keeping and river minr 
ino\ Later he lost considerable in quartz mining at Brown’s Yal- 
ley. In 1860 he went to Nevada, and was engaged for two years 
milling silver ores on the Carson River, at the Merrimac Mill. 

The next two years he spent in Aurora, Esmeralda County, 
as Superintendent of the Wide West and Real Delmonte Min¬ 
ing Companies. 

While in Aurora, in 1864, he was employed by a mining 
company, Wm. R. Garrison, President, to go to Chihuahua, 
Mexico, as Superintendent of the Refugio Mining Company. 

He returned to San Francisco in 1866; joined the society of 
California pioneers; in January, 1867, came to Kern County. 
The first three years was engaged in milling and mining at the 
Kern River and Big Blue Mines. The last ten years have been 
spent in the lumber business. 

At the last general election he was elected Supervisor for Dis¬ 
trict No- 1, Kern County, on an independent ticket. 

He married, June 27, 1881, Miss Sarah Jacques, native of 
Wisconsin. 


Glennville was at one time a nice little village with two 
stores, a hotel, saloon, blacksmith shop and school house. Near 
this place are some good sulphur springs, and the climate is 
very good, as it never gets over ninety degrees here and the 
nights are cool. It is located in Linn’s Valley. 

Mojave, 370 miles south Horn San Francisco, is in the great 
Mojave Desert, on the eastern side of the mountains. Stages 
leave this point for Independence, Inyo County, 150 miles 
distant. 

Caliente was a town of considerable importance during the 
time of constructing the railroad, but its glory has faded and 
its houses have mostly been removed elsewhere. Stages 
leave this point for Havilah, the former county seat, Kernville 
and other important towns in the mountains. 

Sumner, the railroad station, is situated about a mile east of 
Bakersfield. The railroad track runs through the northern 
part of Bakersfield, and to many it appears strange that 
the depot should not be located at that point instead of where 
it is. 

An omnibus plies at all hours of the day and night between 
the two points, affording ample communication for passengers, 
while freight trucks convey freight. The interests of the two 
places are so thoroughly identical and so intimately connected 
that it is impossible to build one up at the expense of the 
other. 

Sumner was laid out by the railroad company in November, 
1874. The village lots are all 25x150 feet. 

The business part of Sumner now consists of two hotels, 
two restaurants, six saloons, three stores, a barber shop, a 
livery and feed stable and blacksmith shop, post, express and 
telegraph offices. Several neat residences stand north of the 
track, and some more south and west. The Mexican popula¬ 
tion of the valley seem to have chosen the place as a rendezvous, 
and constitute a large element. It had a newspaper office 
about 1S76, which remained there a short time only. 

Chittenden Bros, are the principal merchants. The firm 
consists of J. E. Chittenden, who was in business first in 1875, 
and was joined in 1879 by W. A. Chittenden. They are 
forwarding and commission merchants, hay and grain is bought 
and sold, shipments of stock and wool are solicited, stock in 
transit are fed, watered and reloaded with care. 


Tehachepi is situated in the western part of Tohachepi Val¬ 
ley, and contains about three hundred inhabitants. It is 
known far and wide for the celebrated “loop” in the railroad 
and lately for the terrible accident on the railroad by which 
the passenger train escaped and ran down the grade toward 
Sumner. Part of the cars were overturned, wrecked, and 
burned, and some twenty persons killed. 
















eutorr.uTH. wmwnsr. 


HOME OF F.A.TRACY. I8TH. & M STS. BAKERSFIELD. CAL 



ELLIOTT. LITH. 421 MO*T. ST. 


RESIDENCE OF E.H.DUMBLE. 3 MILES NORT OF BAKERSFIELD. CAL 






























































































































































DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


215 


The “Loop” is a wonderful piece of engineering. The road 
runs into the ground under the Tehachepi Mountains and after 
groping along in the dark a little while makes a turn and runs 
over itself. This forms “The Loop” which is about a mile in 
circumference. The road after coming; out of a tunnel runs 
around a mountain, and then after a few little eccentricities 
goes on toward Los Angeles without any further foolishness. 

On the line from Caliente to Summit City there are seven¬ 
teen tunnels, with innumerable embankments. This has cer¬ 
tainly been a great work, and the only wonder to the beholder 
is that it was not abandoned before it was commenced. 

“The Loop” is the only railroad engineering work of this 
nature in the world where the road is made to “cross itself.” 
It is located midway between Keene and Girard, 340 miles 
from San Francisco. Length of “Loop” 3,795 feet. Eleva¬ 
tions: Lower—at Tunnel 9—2,956 feet; Upper—at grade over 
Tunnel 9—3,034 feet. Difference in elevation 78 feet. 

From Antelope Mountain the observer has a fine view of 
Buena Vista and Kern Lakes, with the connecting waters, Kern 
River in the distance, with timber on either side; while beyond 
is the valley, and still beyond the Coast Range is plainly dis¬ 
cernible. Below lies the village of the valley, and at the east 
end Tehachepi Lake, a beautiful sheet of water when viewed 
from this place. In the distance is Mount Whitney and sur¬ 
rounding peaks. 

Tehachepi has a flouring-mill which uses the grain raised in 
the adjoining valleys. The valleys of this section are Tehach¬ 
epi, Cummings, Bears and Brights, all of the land being owned, 
and most of it fenced. Farming is carried on quite extensively, 
but the country seems best adapted to grazing. 

The marble produced from the.ledges has been pronounced 
to be first-class. 

Coal was found near the railroad line, and about ten miles 
from Tehachepi summit. Two leads were at one time in full 
operation, one being run by John Funk and another by Anson 
Cross. The parties claimed that they had found coal. 

REMAINS OF AZTEC CIVILIZATION. 

In the vicinity of Tehachepi there are numerous and varied 
remains and evidences of ancient Aztec civilization. There 
are, on the sides of the hills, running in different directions, 
well defined aqueducts and ditches. The soil is a firm cement, 
which does not wash away. Immediately in these ditches there 
are giant oak trees growing, as large and evidently as old as 
those of the surrounding forests, showing that the ditches must 
have been constructed hundreds and perhaps thousands of years 
ago. 

One of these ditches leads to a silver-bearing ledge, on which 
shafts had been sunk, and from the bottom of which shafts 
drifts ran in different directions, showing that the aborigines 
had mined for the precious minerals in the days of old. This 
old mine was re-discovered by the Narbeau Brothers, known 


in the vicinity, who worked for a considerable time in and 
from the self-same shafts first sunk by the ancient inhabitants 
of the continent. The lode did not prove as rich as it was 
hoped it would, and the Narbeau Brothers finally abandoned it. 

In running a water ditch through this region, Mr. P. 
D. Green once had occasion to remove a venerable oak 
tree. In taking away the roots, he observed that immediately 
under where the tree had stood, the soil was different from the 
hard cement surrounding—that it partook of the nature of 
vegetable mould and debris, being very soft and easily pene¬ 
trated. Following down, an ancient shaft was easily traced, 
and on removing the debris was most clearly defined, the walls 
remaining perpendicular, intact and solid. At the bottom of 
this shaft the skeleton of a man was found, immediately under¬ 
neath, and covered up by a pile of charcoal and ashes, I’emain- 
ing from some ancient fire. The tree growing over this shaft 
was evidently hundreds of years old, showing that the excava¬ 
tion had been made long centuries before the advent of the 
Spaniards. 

Bakersfield, the chief town and county seat, is situated a 
short distance below where the Kern River emerges from the 
foot-hills. To the south and west for many miles the beautiful 
garden of the valley stretches. It is laid out in blocks, with 
streets intersecting at right angles. Ditches run along the 
streets, supplying water for irrigation and other purposes. 
Many use the river water from the ditches, after filtering, and 
it is considered more wholesome than the surface water found 
in the wells. A movement is now in progress to supply the 
village from water-works. 

The streets are lined with shade-trees; cottonwood and wil¬ 
low, and many eucalypti and locust may be seen. Some neat 
residences and beautiful gardens may be observed in the west¬ 
ern suburbs, where roses and other flowers bloom perennially. 

The Methodists have a neat church building in this portion of 
the town. A commodious town hall, with the upper story de¬ 
voted to lodge-rooms for the Masons and Odd Fellows, stands 
on Chester Avenue. One block south stands the county 
Court House, erected at a cost of about $35,000; a magnificent 
pile, commanding a superb view of the surrounding country 
from the stately observatory that surmounts it. 

Opposite, and a block east, the school house is a not inappro¬ 
priate companion building, in point of appearance, to its 
scarcely more imposing neighbor, the Court House. The 
school house was built at a cost of $6,000, and is at once com¬ 
modious and ornamental—-a source of honest pride to the com¬ 
munity. It is a fine substantial building, and a credit to any 
town. The block on which it is situated is surrounded by a 
neat picket fence. 

The business part of the town consists of eight general mer¬ 
chandise stores, one furniture store, one book and stationery 








216 


DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


store, two jewelry and watchmaking establishments, two bar¬ 
ber shops and a bath-house, three hotels, four restaurants, two 
drug stores, one bank, one butcher shop, two saddler shops, 
three livery stables, two tinshops, one bakery, eleven saloons, 
one shoemaker shop, three blacksmith and wagon-making shops, 
one brewery, three newspapers, post and express offices. Law¬ 
yers, doctors, surveyors, and others are plentiful. 

A large grist-mill, with latest improvements in machinery, 
is located in the eastern part of the town, on the banks of the 
Kern Island Canal, by the waters of which it is driven. It 
has a planing and grooving attachment connected and driven 
by the same power, with a lumber-yard attached. 

In 1871, the Board of Trustees gi’anted, for the term of ten 
years, to A. R. Jackson and C. D. Jackson, the exclusive right 
of way through the streets and alleys of Bakersfield, for street 
railroads, to connect with the Southern Pacific Railroad at 
such points as may be acceptable. This road was never con¬ 
structed, and a new charter was lately granted to a new com¬ 
pany, for that purpose; and, no doubt, before long such a road 
will be constructed, as it is much needed. 

CONTEST OVER TOWN SITE. 

Thomas Baker (since dead), from whom the town derived 
its name, made an application for the swamp land in section 
30, township 29, south range 28 east, Mount Diablo base and 
meridian. In -the following year a certificate of purchase was 
issued to him. Colonel Baker had occupied the section for 
so ne yea s before, claiming title to it under a grant from the 
State, which was finally decided not to include the lands. It 
was then he made application to the State to purchase it. A 
town was laid out in the same year, and in the year following 
a lithograph map of the town was made and filed with the 
County Recorder. A block of the town was obtained of the 
grantees of Colonel Baker by the county, and the new Court 
House was erected upon it. 

On the 14th day of December, 1870, W. J. Yoakum made 
application for the whole of section 30, as swamp land. After 
some months, his application was sent to the Surveyor-Gener¬ 
al’s office, and returned without his approval, as the whole of 
the section was not swamp land. Yoakum had lived much of 
his time in the town, bought property of Colonel Baker and 
improved it, and never apparently thought of his claim after¬ 
ward till late in the year 1875. About that time the Su¬ 
preme Court decided in the case of Edwards vs. Estell, that a 
County Surveyor could not make an application in his own 
name. As Baker was County Surveyor at the time his appli¬ 
cation was made, under that decision it was void. The County 
Judge of the county then learned, from the former County 
Surveyor, of the Yoakum application, and he immediately pro¬ 
ceeded to obtain it, and then dividing the interest with the 
District Attorney and one of the wealthy land-owners residing 
in San Francisco, inaugurated an attack upon the occupants. 


The original survey could not be found, and to take up and 
perfect a claim which had so little validity, after a series of 
years, was no small task. The former Surveyor was induced 
to draw some red lines around the black ones, in a supposed 
copy of the survey, which might pass for a correction. It was 
forwarded to the late Surveyor-General, and by him sent 
to the District Court of Kern Count} 7 for adjustment. One 
great difficulty in maintaining it was the fact that the law in 
existence at the time the Yoakum application was made, 
contained in effect these words: “No application for swamp 
and overflowed lands in this State shall be made within five 
miles of the cities of Oakland and San Francisco, and within 
two miles of any town or village.” 

As the town was in existence in 1868, and had a map filed 
prior to the application of Yoakum, the plain supposition was 
that it was reserved from sale by the State. All one day was 
spent by the prosecution trying to make out that it was not a 
town or village. The proof on the part of the defense was that 
it contained seventeen houses, including two stores, a black¬ 
smith shop, a hotel and boarding-house, a livery stable, a feed 
stable, a printing office, with a weekly paper, and a population 
of from 200 to 300 persons. 

The plaintiffs brought one of the editors of the Gazette, at 
Sumner, to disprove the defendant’s statements. He testified 
that it was no town at all—that it had about twenty-five peo¬ 
ple living in very small houses; that he was editor of the 
Courier in October, 1870, and the paper had been in existence 
since the year before, under the management of A. D. Jones: 
that the paper paid nothing—there was nobody to advertise, 
etc. He made it out a most contemptible and insignificant 
place. 

On consideration, the editor was gradually compelled to ad¬ 
mit the existence of the several buildings which had been 
mentioned, the stores, etc., the post-office, the mail line, tele¬ 
graph and express offices, and finally was asked if, when 
he first commenced the publication of the Courier in 1870. he 
remembered giving a long description of the town, the num¬ 
ber of its inhabitants, its prominent buildings, and the fact of 
its being the center of trade for a large and prosperous coun¬ 
try, and he said he-be-lieved-he-did. 

The decision of the lower court was adverse to the settlers 
of the town, and caused some commotion. A later decision 
of the Supreme Cour.t gives them a clear title to their town 
property, and defeated the thieving scheme of a few land spec¬ 
ulators who had planned to deprive the people of their homes, 
as unfortunately too many of their class have been enabled to 
do on this coast in times past. 

lhe first house erected in Bakersfield for dwelling' purposes 
was a small building used by the employes of the first and 
only store in the place. It was afterwards rented to W. S. 
Adams who used it as a boarding-house. It was then used for 






DESCRIPTION OF TOWNS AND VILLAGES. 


217 


five years as a printing office, and in 1881 was demolished to 
make room for a commodious dwelling. C. Baker, one of the 
pioneers of Bakersfield, erected the first brick building in that 
town fronting Second Street, in 1875. 

The village of Bakersfield was incorporated under the general 
act, and so continued for a while and until it was disincorporated. 
It is 231 miles from Stockton. It is located in a grove of large 
cottonwood, sycamore, and willow trees, on the sandy bottom 
adjacent to Kern River, one mile from railroad at Sumner. 

The town does a very large business, and is one of the most 
active places in the valley. Droughts do not seriously affect 
its prosperity. 

The Episcopal Church was organized in 1878. At a meet¬ 
ing held at the residence of S. A. Burnap, Esq., for the pur¬ 
pose of forming an Episcopal Church Society, George E. Otis 
was chosen Chairman, and J. T. Anderson, Secretary. 

The Catholic church was erected bv Mr. Montgomerv, in 
1881. 

The M. E. Church also has religious services every Sunday; 
a Sabbath-school is also maintained. 

There are various secret and benevolent societies; such as 
Workmen, Legion of Honor, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, 
Good Templars, Masons, etc. 

NEWSPAPERS OF BAKERSFIELD. 

The Kern County Californian is published every Saturday, 
bv A. C. Maude. It is now in it fourth volume. Its edi¬ 
torials are able. Its local county news is alwaj^s very large. 
The influence and enterprise of the Californian has added 
much to the prosperity of Kern County. It has handled all 
current subjects in an able manner. It has done much by re¬ 
views of the various resources of the counties to attract atten¬ 
tion to the advantages it possesses. Mr. Maude was for some 
time engaged in real estate, and other business in Bakersfield, 
and is therefore the more fully posted on its resources. He is 
also United States Commissioner, and Notary Public. 

The Kern County Gazette is published by George W. Wear, 
whose residence forms one of the views of the pretty homes of 
Bakersfield. George W. Wear is a native of Carroll County, 
Mississippi. A self-made man, and an energetic, industrious 
printer, who thoroughly understands his business. He grew 
to manhood in the South, and at the breaking out of the war 
remained with his native soil. The Gazette is a nine-column 
paper, is attractive and ably conducted. Mr. Wear has just 
put a new Cottrell cylinder press and steam power into his 
office. He has lately purchased the material of the Record, 
and has thus largely increased his business and circulation. 

The Kern Weekly Record had reached its third volume 
when it became consolidated with the Gazette. It was estab¬ 
lished by John H. Lee. 

The Temperance Banner is also published in Bakersfield. 
The first number was issued in April, 1883, Cora Petty, Edi¬ 


tress, and in its salutatory it says: “We are confident that 
there is a good field here for temperance work, but it is yet a 
matter of conjecture if the field will yield a support for an 
advocate of the cause. A town of the population of Bakers¬ 
field, that can make a showing of probably twenty-five saloons, 
certainly is a proper field for the temperance worker.” 

BUSINESS HOUSES OF BAKERSFIELD. 

H. H. Fish is proprietor of the Union Livery and Sale Sta¬ 
bles, which he has had illustrated for this work. These large 
stables are situated on Tenth Street. It is the depot of the 
Sumner and Bakersfield ’Bus Co. The building has recently 
been enlarged and otherwise improved and ventilated. He has 
one of the largest and finest stocks in California, south of San 
Francisco, of buggies and carriages, with double teams, for hire 
on reasonable terms; also good saddle horses and mules, which 
will be hired to go to any part of the country at moderate 
rates. 

J. Niederaur has a large building on the main street, which 
is occupied by him as a furniture dealer and undertaker. A 
glance at the illustration of this business place will give some 
idea of its extent. He keeps a complete assortment of furni¬ 
ture and bedding, wall paper, looking-glasses, picture frames, 
bi-ackets, upholstery, carpets, etc. Jobbing and repairing done 
in good style and at short notice. Metallic caskets, wood cas¬ 
kets, and coffins of all sizes and descriptions always on hand. 
A hearse, second to none in southern California, is always kept 
in readiness. 

The Kern Valley Bank, at Bakersfield, has a capital of 
853,000. It furnishes exchanges on all Eastern and European 
cities. It loans on approved securities; pays highest price for 
county scrip; makes collections; and allows interest on term 
deposits. Sol. Jewett, President; Charles W. Fore, Cashier. 

J. S. Drury is a wholesale and retail dealer in druo-s and 
medicines, paints, oils, varnishes, etc. 

Borgwardt & McCord are wholesale and retail dealers in 
fresh and salted meats, hams, bacon, lard, etc. All kinds of 
German sausages constantly on hand. 

Paul Galtes is a wholesale and retail dealer in groceries and 
provisions, dry goods, clothing, fancy goods, boots, shoes, hats, 
fine wines and liquors, tobacco and cigars, hardware, tinware, 
woodenware, etc. Always on hand the best assortment in the 
ladies’ department. 

E. G. Miller is proprietor of the City Brewery. He manu¬ 
factures and keeps on hand superior and pure lager beer, infe¬ 
rior to none in the State. His wines, liquors and cigars are 
all of the best quality. Attached to the brewery is a first- 
class bowling alley, fitted up with all the conveniences, and 
located in a shady, cool place; also a nice, well-arranged shoot¬ 
ing gallery, for the amusement of guests. He has been at 
great expense to arrange the brewery and make it a first- 
class establishment. 










218 


WATER SUPPLY OF KERN COUNTY. 


Water Supply of Kern County. 

The first and most important consideration in a section where 
agricultural success is wholly dependent upon irrigation, as in 
Kern County, is that of the water supply, for upon its perma¬ 
nence and volume depend the wealth and prosperity of the 
community. Fortunately Kern River, which is the sole source 
of supply for all that portion of the San Joaquin Yalley south 
of Tulare Lake, is an unnavigable stream of large volume, 
whose waters can be entirely diverted without injury to any 
public interest, and whose discharge, though variable, is un¬ 
failing. The river heads among the loftiest peaks of the 
Sierra Nevada, whose ice fields and beds of snow only yield 
to the heat of midsummer, furnishing a great volume of 
water long after the winter rains on the lower mountains have 
drained away. The rains of winter and the melting snows of 
summer thus maintain the full flow of the stream through the 
first seven months of the year, the season of greatest demand. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF KERN RIVER. 

From the longest fork of the river to the mouth of the 
canon, the distance is about 115 miles, in which it falls 10,000 
to 12,000 feet, in a series of cascades, through wild, rocky 
canons, alternating with short, level reaches in park-like 
valleys. From the point where it leaves the mountains it 
flows for eighteen miles between high, gravelly bluffs, entering 
the plains a short distance above the Southern Pacific Rail¬ 
road Bridge, the latter fourteen miles having an average slope 
of eight feet per mile. It follows a southwesterly course 
from the railroad bridge toward Buena Vista Lake, flowing in 
a shallow bed of coarse sand, 300 to 800 feet wide, with an 
average inclination of six feet per mile, to Buena Vista Slough, 
where its waters part, a portion flowing south, into Buena Vista 
Lake, when unobstructed, and the remainder seeking an outlet 
northward, in Tulare Lake, through fifty miles of swamp 
land. 

The elevation of the river at the railroad bridge is 408 feet 
above the mean tide datum plane established by the State 
Engineers Department, while the two lakes, Kern and Buena 
Vista, which occupy the lowest and southernmost portion of 
the valley, have an elevation, when full, of about 290 feet. 

FAVORABLE FOR IRRIGATION. 

Kern River has a slope through the valley of from six to 
eight feet per mile, and lies in a shallow sandy bed, with banks 
of sandy soil three to six feet high. These favorable condi¬ 
tions enable water to be taken from it at almost any point 
with a minimum of cost. No permanent dams or expensive 
headworks are necessary; a simple wing-dam of sand and brush, 
running out into the channel at an acute angle up the stream, 
serves every purpose of diverting water into the canals. 


These wing-dams are liable to be swept away with every freshet, 
but as they are inexpensive, no serious loss is entailed. 

But one dam—that of the Kern Island Canal—was ever 
constructed across the river, and this has been finally aban¬ 
doned, on account of the heavy cost of maintaining it in 
repair. It was built of brush mattresses, staked and weighted 
down with gravel. It cost, originally, 87,000, and subsequent 
repairs for three years cost nearly 812,000. It rested upon a 
bed of quicksand, which was constantly being undermined, 
and every freshet rent a hole through the body of the dam. 
When the dam was abandoned, the canal was simply extended 
about half a mile further up stream, and a wing-dam of sand 
thrown out, diverting all the water required. 

The ease with which water can be diverted from Kern River 
accounts for the great number of canals and flitches which have 
been taken from it at all points, there being no less than 
thirty-two, large and small. It would be better if there were 
fewer, as the division of water into so many channels gives 
rise to a great loss in the river in reaching the lower ones—a 
much greater loss than would occur if all the water were di¬ 
verted into two main canals, where it emerges from the foot¬ 
hills, with regularly laid out distributaries running therefrom 
to all the irrigated lands. There are specified times for irriga¬ 
tion, divided into periods depending upon the kind of crop. 

After July no general irrigation is practiced except for 
alfalfa, late potatoes, and vegetables, although water is run in 
all the canals for stock purposes. Alfalfa is irrigated at any 
time during the year from January to October, and while there 
is much of it that is never irrigated, receiving moisture from 
the permanent stratum of surface water which in places its 
roots find at a depth of five to six feet, on other soils less favor¬ 
able to its growth, it may be necessary to water it every five 
to six weeks from the latter part of January to the first of 
October. The mean between these extremes in alfalfa lands 
is a compact alluvial soil, which retains moisture a long time and 
requires not more than two or three irrigations in the whole 
season. 

We are satisfied that many attempts which have been made 
to grow alfalfa, and which proved failures, were attributable 
to the selection of improper soil. Thin soils and compact clay 
soils should be avoided, for in neither will it succeed to satis¬ 
faction. It will succeed, however, in a light soil which has a 
permeable subsoil consisting of loam, or sand or gravel, into 
which its roots can penetrate. 

VARIOUS WAYS OF IRRIGATION. 

Sub-surface irrigation, or the wetting of the ground by 
under-ground percolation, is practiced to a considerable extent, 
but the area over which the system is practicable is compara¬ 
tively limited, and is confined to a few thousand acres on Kern 
Island. For this system the old channels, or blind sloughs, 
that ramify through the country, are used. These are, gener- 







EXTENT OF IRRIGATION IN KERN. 


219 


ally, but shallow troughs, with flat sloping sides. Temporary 
dams are thrown across them, and they are filled with water 
from the nearest ditch. Percolation from them extends from 
500 to 1,500 feet laterally. Where there are no natural chan¬ 
nels convenient the fields are surrounded by ditches, which 
are kept full of standing water as long as may be necessary to 
wet the inclosed field. A great deal of land in various por¬ 
tions of Kern Island is thus sub-irrigated by the natural per¬ 
colation from the canals. 

EFFECT OF IRRIGATION ON SOIL. 

It is a noticeable fact that upon all the sandy soils, at least, 
which form the principal area of the lands under cultivation, 
the effect of years of irrigation has been a marked increase in 
their fertility and • an apparent change in their composition. 
Water and cultivation disintegrate the coarser particles of the 
soil, and the fertilizing elements contained become dissolved 
and prepared for plant growth. In filtering through the por¬ 
ous soil all the sediment and fertilizing matter contained by 
the water is detained and acts as a perpetual restorative. Rich 
fields, producing large annual crops, are to be seen in Kern 
Island, that were barren wastes of pure sand before irrigation 
reclaimed aud fertilized them. A common method of treat¬ 
ing the sandy hillocks and bare spots that occur at intervals, is 
to corral sheep on them for a few weeks at a time. We have no 
data for establishing the rate of increase in the productive ca¬ 
pacity of the land, but the general opinion seems to be that 
the average yield is greater, all other conditions being equal, 
as irrigation progresses. 

EFFECT OF IRRIGATION ON CLIMATE. 

The change for the better in the climate of the country, 
since the general introduction of irrigation, has been as 
marked as the improvement in the soil. Old sloughs contain¬ 
ing stagnant water have been purified by the introduction of 
fresh running water through them. Jungles of miasma-breeding 
willows have been cleared, swamps drained and dried out, and 
much decaying vegetation destroyed. Malarious fevers were 
formerly very prevalent, but have been much abated by these 
measures. How much the change of climate can be attributed 
to the influence of irrigation, if any, cannot be conjectured; but 
irrigation has certainly had no deleterious effects, or else they 
have been greatly overbalanced by the sanitary results of 
drainage and clearing. 

EXTENT OF IRRIGATION. 

The total area of land irrigated in Kern Valley from Kern 
River, in 1879, was 88,800 acres, of which about one-third 
(according to an approximate estimate) was devoted to alfalfa, 
and the remainder to cereals—chiefly wheat and barley, In¬ 
dian corn, potatoes, and miscellaneous products. This com¬ 
prises almost the w-hole of the lands under cultivation in the 
valley, as but few acres were in cultivation which were 


not irrigated directly by surface flooding, or indirectly by 
percolation from artificial channels or natural water-courses 
used as irrigating canals. Of this area, probably one-fifth 
had never been irrigated prior to 1879. 

FIRST CANALS CONSTRUCTED. 

Prior to 1873, comparatively little land was irrigated. The 
only canals existing at the beginning of that year were (1), 
the Kern Island, completed only to Bakersfield, and irrigating 
a limited amount of land around the town; (2), the ditches 
taking water from the Old South Fork, irrigating a few hun¬ 
dred acres north of Bakersfield and in the vicinity of the old 
settlement of Panama; (3), the Castro Ditch; (4), the Stine, 
partially completed by farmers who had formerly taken water 
directly from Old River, at different points; (5), the Buena 
Vista, supplying what was known as the Barnes Settlement, 
by means of an old natural slough, which has since been aban¬ 
doned for an artificial channel, cut on higher ground, nearly 
parallel to the slough; (6), and the James Canal, then a much 
smaller channel than it now is. The total amount irrigated 
by these probably did not exceed 5,000 acres. No water was 
diverted on the north side of the river. 


LIST OF CANALS. 

At present there are some thirty-two ditches taking water 
from Kern River. The following table gives the names of the 
canals, acres irrigated, etc., in the year 1880:— 

TABLE. 


Name of Canae. 


North Side:— 

Beardsley. 

Calloway. 

McCord. 

McCaffrey. 

Emery. 

Jones & Tuckey. 

Wible. 

Railroad. 

Pioneer. 

James & Dixon. 

Johnson. 

Dixon & Joice. 

South Side:— 

Kern Island. 

Farmers’. 

Old South Fork. 

Spanish, or Castro... 

Stine. 

Baker & Noble. 

Gates. 

Buena Vista. 

James. 

Plunkett.. 

Meacbam. 

Wilson. 

Total. 


H 


H 

> 

otal nu 
gated.., 


M. M- O 

3 2 P 

o 2. £- 
c'OQ 

§ ® 

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155,000,000 

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1,760,000,000 

96.0 

765 

320,000,000 

17.5 

280 

177,000,000 

9.7 

20 


60,000,000 

3.2 

55 


68,000,000 

3.7 

260 

I 131,000,000 

7.2 

( 

31,000,000 

1.7 

3,450 

877,000,000 

47.8 


54,000,000 

94,500,000 

3.0 

150 


5.2 



45,000,000 

10,000,000 

2.4 

9,860 

1,9 

104.2 

5,344 

( 840,000,000 

( 521,000,000 

45.8 

28.4 

300 


86,000,000 

4.7 

7,245 

1.761,000,000 

96.1 

1,140 

200,000,000 

10.9 

325 


59,000,000 

3.2 

1,920 

418,500,000 

22.9 

3,400 

556,000,000 

30.3 

785 


51,000,000 

2.8 

52 


9,000,000 

0.5 

38,801 

10,184,000,000 

555.6 


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13.47 

9.6 

14.5 

68.8 

28.4 

14.2 

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14.46 


4.4 

5.85 

6.6 

5.6 

4.0 

4.1 

5.0 

3.75 

1.5 
4.0 























































220 


SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS. 


Biographies of Citizens. 

Solomon Jewett, of Bakersfield, Kern County, was born in 
Weybridge, Vermont, in 1835, where he lived until of age, on 
his parents’ farm, having the principal charge of it after the 
age of sixteen years. 

His father and grandfather were large sheep owners, for that 
State, owning as many as 6,000 at one time. Our subject took 
early to the business, purchasing his first sheep at the age of 
six years, paying S3.00 therefor, which increased, and with trad¬ 
ing gave him a start of $950 at the age of twenty-one years, 
when he left for Nebraska where he stayed two years. 

Then with his brother started for Pike’s Peak during the 
excitement of 1859. Arriving at Fort Kearney and finding 
the news of Pike’s Peak unfavorable, they came together to 
California, landing at Placerviile September, 1859. They went 
from there to Murderers Bar, and worked in the river diggings 
one month for wages, and then tried placer mining for them¬ 
selves, but with poor success. 

In 1860, they received 105 French Merino Bucks from the 
East by steamer, which our subject sold at an average of $316 
each. 

In the fall of 1860 he came to Kern County, took 3,300 
ewes on shares, and purchased 2,000 in company with Thomas 
Bull, a banker of San Francisco, for $6.00 a head. The first clip 
brought $154 over and above the expense of shearing and deliv¬ 
ering in San Francisco. 

The next year sheep dropped from $6.00 to $1.00 per head. 
The years 1863-64 were dry years, and during that time Mr. 
Jewett devoted his whole time to the sheep, losing but few. 
In 1864 sheep fell to 50 cents per head; 1865 was a good 
year, and Mr. Jewett drove 3,000 wethers to San Francisco, 
realizing $3.20 per head, which cleared him from debt, and 
left himself and brother with 8,000 sheep, which was after¬ 
wards increased to 20,000. 

In 1865 in company with Messrs. Livermore and Chester, 
he purchased the “Cotton Ranch,” and cleared, made irriga¬ 
ting ditches, and put in 133 acres of cotton, one of three of 
the first crops raised in California. 

Seeing the necessity of providing his sheep with winter feed, he 
commenced to raise alfalfa hay, and was one of the first to ad¬ 
vocate the producing of it, and has at the present time about 
2,000 acres sufficient to cut 12,000 tons of hay in a season. 

Mr. Jewett has always been one of the foremost breeders of 
fine sheep in the State, having imported several hundi'ed from 
the East. His sales amount to thousands of dollars yearly; 
selling them all over California, and sending them into Oregon, 
Nevada, Montana, Utah, Colorada, and Texas. 


In company with Livermore A Chester, he put up the first 
frame building in Bakersfield. He has been identified with 
the growth and prosperity of Bakersfield from the start, 
and aids in promoting every enterprise for the development of 
town and county. 

In 1875 he started the Kern Valley Bank, of which he is 
now President. Mr. Jewett lives one mile from Bakersfield 
on his home farm, and has a wife and four children. 

James C. Crocker, the subject of this notice, was born in 
Oneida County, New York, on the 20th day of January, 1830, 
but before arriving at his majority, he went to Pulaski, 
Oswego County, where he engaged in the occupation of butch¬ 
ering, which he followed with average success up to the time 
when the California gold excitement broke out. 

Being of a sanguine temperament, and full of the spirit of 
adventure, he determined to try his fortune in the El Dorado of 
promise. He left New York by steamer in June, 1850, coming 
by way of Panama, where he was detained some time in con¬ 
sequence of the riots that broke out while he was there, and 
he did not arrive in San Francisco until August of the same 
year, having been nine months on his way from New York. 

He immediately went to Greenwood Valley, in El Dorado 
County, where he engaged in mining for a limited time with 
average success, but observing that there was a good prospect 
for a butcher, he determined to try his hand at his old trade 
again, which he did during several years, with varied success. 
Subsequently, about the year 1860, he moved to the county of 
San Joaquin, where he became acquainted with Miss Marv 
Smith, his present amiable wife, whom he married in the year 
1862. They have now living five children, two boys, Edwin 
and Frederick, and three girls, Clara, Nellie, and Bertha. 

After his marriage he resided in San Joaquin County, up to 
the year 1868, when the great excitement in regard to taking 
up farming lands was at its height, when the plains on the 
west side were being dotted with houses and farms as far up 
as Hill’s Ferry, and as bad or worse for stock owners on the 
east side, where the settlers were killing hundreds of cattle for 
trespassing on their fenceless crops. The outlook was gloomy, 
green fields and pastures now seemed to be the best solution 
of the situation. So Crocker concluded very promptly to 
make one more move,jand this time to Kern County, where he 
engaged in the business of stock-raising more vigorously than 
ever before, and with gratifying success up to the year 1877 
(the dry year we call it here), when he lost a great many cat¬ 
tle on account of the scarcity of grass. 

From the experience of this year he learned that the native 
grasses of this dry country are not a reliable dependence for 
a large amount of stock, so he commenced buying land in the 
farming and irrigating district, about eight miles south of 
Bakersfield, and nine miles from Sumner the nearest depot, 
and now he has 1,760 acres under a substantial board fence, 







SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS. 


221 


with miles of subdivision fences of the same sort; 1,350 acres 
of alfalfa grass, which is indispensable for stock, a good resi¬ 
dence, with all other buildings necessary and convenient to 
conduct the business. The soil is mostly of the best quality, 
being alluvial deposit, and produces alfalfa most abundantly, 
averaging two tons of hay per acre the first cutting, and 
nearly as much at the second cutting, and green pasture ever 
afterwards; cultivates no other crop. Has an orchard of sev¬ 
eral hundred trees, large and small; only for family use. Has 
about 1,250 head of stock cattle; about 155 head of horses and 
mares, including spring colts; about 800 head of hogs, and 
600 sheep. 

Blessed with a good constitution, indomitable pluck and per. 
severance, and a clear head for business, the subject of 
this notice has succeeded in placing himself on a solid busi¬ 
ness basis. As a man he is true to his friends, hospitable to 
the stranger, and just to all men. In Kern County he is es¬ 
teemed the model citizen. 

A. T. Lightner, whose portrait appears in this work, is one 
of the oldest native Californians in the State, having been 
born in San Bernardino County, January 1, 1850. .He was 
the youngest of a family of nine children. His parents moved 
into and resided in Santa Clara County until 1857, when they 
moved into Kern County, which was at that time a part of 
Tulare County. 

His early years—up to the age of fifteen—were spent in at¬ 
tending school in Santa Clara County. Between the years 
1866 and 1876 he was engaged in stock-raising—principally 
cattle and horses. 

In March, 1876, he was engaged as Office Deputy in the 
Sheriff’s office, serving for two yeai’s, during the term of M. P. 
Wells. In September, 1879, he was elected to the office of 
County Clerk, and also served as Recorder of Kern County. 
He was re-elected to the same office in November, 1882, and 
is still serving in that capacity. 

William Tyler, the present County Auditor, was born in 
Napierville, Canada East, June 20, 1836. He came to San 
Francisco, May 17, 1859. He came to this county and engaged 
in mining in 1865. Being present at the birth of the county, 
he remembers the incidents attending that event. His hand¬ 
writing appeal's upon the early records, although he was not 
an officer until he was elected to his present position, to which 
his many qualifications admirably lit him to faithfully dis¬ 
charge. 

Alexander B. Macpherson, the present able Superintend¬ 
ent of Schools of Kern County, is a native of Glasgow, Scot¬ 
land, where he was born March 20, 1839. He moved to the 
Hiahlands of Scotland in 1840, where his father, Alex. Mac- 
pher-on, engaged in milling. He afterwards migrated to Can¬ 
ada in a sailing vessel, consuming fifty-three days. 


The subject of our sketch left New York for California, by 
way of Panama, and reached San Francisco May 7, 1864, and 
engaged as a laborer on a farm near Capland. From June to 
October, 1864, he was engaged in book-keeping in San Fran¬ 
cisco, and in Sacramento at other business. 

He came to Kern County in 1867, and engaged in contract¬ 
ing for the Joe Walker Mining Company. He was elected 
Superintendent of Schools in 1882. 

He married Miss Mary Jane Freeman, in 1876, who was a 
native of Texas. The names of their children are: Alexander 
Ross, Eucebie Valeria, and Veronica Macpherson. 

Jacob Niederaur. —The subject of this sketch was born in 
Bavaria, in the year 1841, and is a son of Diedrick and Bar¬ 
bara Niederaur. He came to America with his parents and 
brothers (of whom he has three) and sister, in 1853, and set¬ 
tled with them in Bryan, Ohio, where his parents resided 
almost continuously the balance of their lives. His mother 
died in 1868, and his father in 1879, the latter being seventy- 
nine years of age when he died. Mr. Diedrick Niederaur was 
a cabinetmaker, and taught all four of his sons the trade. 
Two of them still remain in Bryan; are sole proprietors of the 
large business built up by their father and themselves, and are 
well-to-do, thriving men. No doubt Jacob might have been 
one of the firm, had he been content to remain at home and 
work at the bench; but his was a nature which craved advent¬ 
ure, and in pursuit of it he, in 1861, enlisted for three years 
as a musician in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Regiment, and served 
under General Thomas. He was discharged after serving less 
than two years, by Act of Congress, mustering out of service 
the military bands. He was engaged in the battles of Mill 
Springs, Pittsburg Landing, Shiloah, and other minor affrays. 
After his discharge from the army, he returned home; but 
soon tiring of the old haunts, he started, in the fall of 1863, for 
California. He spent six years in the mine« of Montana, 
Idaho, and Nevada; and, after a checkered career, in which he 
neither succeeded in making a fortune, nor failed at all times 
to satisfy the cravings of hunger, he left White Pine for Kern 
County, in 1869, and arrived in Bakersfield, in December of 
the same year. His earthly possessions at this time consisted 
of a pack and saddle horse and a camping outfit Having 
now come to the conclusion that, as a money-making business, 
mining was too uncertain, he practically abandoned it, and 
began work at the bench as a carpenter, at which he labored 
steadily for four years. In the meantime, with his partner, 
Dan Hughes, who had shared the ups and downs of mining 
life with him for the last five years in which he followed it, they 
pre-empted a half-section of land, Dan giving his time to the 
tilling and improving of the ranch, while Niederaur furnished 
the capital. Finding that the ranch was eating up all his 
hard-earned funds, without giving any adequate return, the 
partners concluded they were not cut out for farmers, and 







222 


SKETCHES OF PROMINENT CITIZENS. 


abandoned the business, after first proving upon their land. 
They then dissolved partnership, Mr. Niederaur retaining a 
lot and small house which they had been enabled to purchase, 
and Mr. Hughes taking the stock of the farm. In 1873 Mr. 
Niederaur decided to open a furniture and undertaking estab¬ 
lishment in Bakersfield. His funds were small, and he started 
in a small way; but four months served to convince him 
that at last he had struck the chord of success. About this 
time he found a purchaser for his ranch, and invested the 
proceeds of the sale in his business. From that time to the 
present, his course has been gradually upward. The in¬ 
crease of business compelled him from time to time to extend 
the dimensions of his establishment, until finally the small 
lot became too small for the business, and he was forced 
to purchase larger accommodations, which he did and secured 
a more desirable location in the center of town. The dimen¬ 
sions of the store at present are 66x115, and is divided into four 
apartments, one of which is the work shop; another is devoted 
to heavy furniture, bedroom sets, tables, mattresses, etc. 
Another is used for the smaller pieces of furniture, wall-paper, 
picture frames, ci'ockery and glassware, carpets, paints, oils, etc. 
And the fourth apartment is used exclusively for displaying 
wooden and metallic coffins, and caskets and fixtures. Mr. 
Niederaur also owns a fine hearse, said to be the most costly one 
in southern California. Aside from the apartments above 
mentioned, he also owns a large building directly west and 
adjoining those now used by him, which he rents from month 
to month, but which was purchased in anticipation of still 
greater increase of business in the future. Altogether it is a 
fine business and a worthy monument to pluck and persever¬ 
ance. Mr. Niederaur was married in 1869 to Miss Lucy Will¬ 
iams, a native of Ohio, a lady who has proved a fitting com¬ 
panion, and to whose sound judgment and common-sense ideas 
much of his success is due. They have no children. 

George Oakley Kinxe is a native of Seneca County, New 
York, where he was born July 18, 1819, and his early life was 
spent upon a farm. He came to California in 1851, from 
New York City overland, reaching Sacramento August 25th, 
after an uneventful trip. He engaged in hotel-keeping at 
Sacramento. He also engaged in mining in 1852, in Placer 
County near Coloma, with very good success. In the winter 
of 1853 he was farming in Napa Valley. 

He came to Kern County in 1875 and engaged in farming 
and raising sheep. His farm is 640 acres seventeen miles from 
Bakersfield. The chief production is growing alfalfa, and the 
average yield per acre is five tons. He has a fruit orchard 
which does well, consisting of trees of cherries, apricots, peaches, 
apples, pears, plums, nectarines, quinces, etc., of various kinds. 

In 1853 he returned to New York. Remained there three 
or four months and then returned and settled upon a farm in 
Yolo County. He sold out in Yolo County in 1859 and went 


back to New York. Remained there about one month, came 
back to California and went from California to Arizona on a 
mining expedition. He remained there through the summer 
and returned to San Francisco. The next year he sailed up 
to Victoria, thence to the British Possessions; from there he 
returned in the fall to San Francisco, and from there went to 
the Suisun Valley and bought sheep. He remained there for 
two years. In 1867 he went to Colusa County, and in 1868 
returned to Yolo County, rented a farm, and went into the 
sheep business. In 1869 he left Yolo County and came to 
Fresno County, remaining there for six years engaged in rais¬ 
ing sheep. 

These movements show that, like most others who try the 
climate of California for a while, they eventually have to 
return for a permanent home. 

Alexis Godey is one of the guides and hunters w T ho aided 
Fremont in his exploring expeditions and contributed in no 
small degree to their success. Few are aware that Godey lives 
in Kern County. A few years after the last expedition in 
which his courage and patient endurance was the means of 
saving the lives of many of his companions, he settled in this 
countv and has since made it his home. 

J 

He was near the site of the village of Bakersfield in the 
spring of 1844, wdth the second expedition. Fremont was 
then moving southward along the base of the Sierras, with a 
view of finding a pass to the eastward. He entered the low 
ground where the bridge now is and was then dry land, the 
river turning around the base of the bluff and flowing south- 
ward to Kern Lake. They then entered the Tehachepi Pass, 
as heretofore described. 

E. H. Dumble is one of the most enterprising and prosper¬ 
ous farmers on the north side of the river, who, with a wise 
foresight, commenced planting vines and fruit trees a few 
years ago, the area of which he is constantly extending. He 
has spent much time and money in experiments with various 
seeds and plants to test their adaptability to the soil and 
climate of Kern County. Some years ago he tried the date 
palm, but we do not know whether this tree has been experi¬ 
mented with to any satisfactory extent in southern California 
or not, by Mr. Dumble or any one else. It is one of the most 
valuable trees known, and subserves the greatest variety of 
useful purposes. 

Mr. Dumble’s residence is three miles north of Bakersfield. 
He has a large two-story house, surrounded by wide double 
verandas which are a great comfort and pleasure in the sum¬ 
mer climate of Kern. The fine large trees around the place 
also add a grateful shade. Surrounding the house are orchards 
of a variety of fruits. Taken altogether no farm home in 
Kern County exceeds that of Mr. Dumble’s for pleasant sur¬ 
roundings, which are indicative of the home of a thrifty and 
prosperous farmer. 







ELECTIONS HELD IN KERN COUNTY. 


223 


Elections of Kern County. 


FIRST ELECTION IN KERN COUNTY HELD SEPTEMBER 4, 1867. 


Assembly.. 

.J. C. Brown. 

VOTES. 

363 

MAJORITY. 

173 

it 

.A. R. Jackson. 

190 


Sheriff. 

. R. B. Sagely. 

299 

59 

a 

. W. B. Ross. 

240 


Dist. Attorney . 

.Thos. Laspeyre. 

519 

519 

Treasurer. 

.D. A. Sinclair. 

321 

95 

a 

. W. G. Sanderson. 

226 


Assessor. 

. Jas. R. Watson. 

293 

62 

a 

.John Falvey. 

231 


Surveyor. 

.Thos. Baker. 


121 

it 

John McFarland. 

210 


Coronor. 

.A. D. Jones. 

324 

106 

U 

. A. Hamilton. 

218 


Supt. of Schools, 

E. W. Dess. 

320 

320 

Supervisors 1st 

District, D. W. Walser .. 

190 

44 

a n 

W. L. Kennedy. 

146 


“ 2d 

J. J. Rhymes. . . 

76 

67 

it « 

Jas. White ... . 

9 

* 

“ 3d 

John W. Brite. . 

64 

42 

ti ti 

Julius Chester. . 

22 


JUDICIAL ELECTION, OCTOBER 16, 

1867. 


County Judge. . 

.P. T. Colby.... 

241 

161 

« it 


56 

24 


it a 

.D. G. Housser. . 


State Supt. of Instruction, O. P. Fitzgerald 

269 

148 

ti it 

John Sweet. . . . 

121 



PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER, 1868. 
President.Horatio Seymour, D.. 422 214 


“ .XT. S. Grant, R. 208 

Supervisor 1st District.F. W. Craig. 193 34 


D. W. Walser ... 159 


GENERAL ELECTION HELD SEPTEMBER 1. 1869. 


Assembly.E. W. Doss. 141 

.Thos. R. Davidson .... 106 

.F. W. Craig. 58 

Sheriff.W. H. Coons. 293 

Clerk.Thos. J. Williams. 282 

District Attorney, Thos. Laspeyre. 288 

Treasurer.D. A. Sinclair. 292 

Assessor.J. R. Watson. 289 

Surveyor.E. E. Calhoun.279 

Supt. of Schools .. J. H. Conwell. 287 

Coronor.H. Hashfield. 289 

Supervisor District No. 2, C. T. White. . . 84 


35 


293 
• 282 
288 
292 
289 
279 
287 
289 
84 


SPECIAL ELECTION FOR SUPERVISOR SEPTEMBER, 1870. 


Supervisor District No. 3.J. M. Brite. . . 32 9 

“ “ “ “ U. U. Hudson. 22 

“ “ “ “ J. E. Williams. 11 

GENERAL ELECTION, SEPTEMBER 6, 1871. 


Govorner.H. H. Haight. 363 192 

“ .Newton Booth. 171 




VOTES. 

MAJORITY. 

Assembly 

.J. Burkhalter. 

350 

170 




it 


180 


Clerk. . . . 

.A. A. Bermurdez. 

354 

181 

it 

.S. P. Merrell. 

173 


Sheriff. .. 

.W. H. Coons. 


149 

(C 

.V. G. Thompson. 

183 


District Attorney, A. C. Lawrence. 

387 

376 

Scattering votes. 

11 


Treasurer 

.D. A. Sinclair. 

362 

197 

(l 


165 


Assessor . 


358 

198 

it 


170 


Supt. of Schools. . J. H. Cornwell. 

333 

193 

ti 

“ . . A. R. Jackson. 

140 


Coronor. 


323 

137 

ti 

.A. B. Pendleton. 

186 


Surveyor 

.E. E. Calhoun. 

266 

44 

ti 

.P. D. Green. 

222 


Supervisor District No. 1, F. W. Craig. . . 

114 

43 

{( 

“ “ J. M. Lewis.. . 

71 


JUDICIAL ELECTION, OCTOBER IS, 

1871. 


Justice Supreme Court, S. S. Wright.. . . 

271 

101 

it 

“ “ A. L. Rhodes.... 

170 


Count} 7 Judge.A. T. Colby .... 

231 

95 

ti 

“ .L. F. Humiston . . 

136 


GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 5, 

1872. 


President, Horace Greeley, D. 

285 

110 

it 

U. S. Grant, R. 

175 


Supervisor District No. 2, Sol. Jewett. . .. 

140 

50 

ti 

“ W. P. Wilkes .. 

90 



GENERAL ELECTION HELD SEPTEMBER 3, 1873. 


Senator.Thos. Fowler. 323 

.Tipton Lindsey. 383 60 

Assembly.. E. M. Reading. 276 

.M. Canfield. 423 147 

Sheriff.W. R. Brown. 464 214 

“ .W. J. Yoakum. 250 

Treasurer.D. A. Sinclair. 473 126 

“ .L. S. Rogers. 247 

Clerk.A. T. Lightner. 337 

“ .F. W. Craig. 382 45 

Assessor.B. F. Walker. 359 57 

“ .A. T. Whitman . 302 

“ .J. M. McKinsie. 50 

District Attorney, A. B. DuBrutz. 171 

“ A. C. Lawrence. 305 61 

“ J. W. Freeman. 244 

Surveyor.P. A. Stine. 350 

“ .Walter James. 362 12 

Supt. of Schools, J. T. H. Gray. 329 

“ “ L. A Beardsley. 392 63 

Coronor.R. R. Donnell. 335 

“ .J. P. Miller. 378 43 

Supervisor 3d District, John Narboe. 88 19 

“ “ P. D. Green. 69 
















































































































224 


ELECTION’S HELD IN KERN COUNTY. 


GENERAL ELECTION HELD SEPTEMBER 1, 1875. 


VOTES. MAJORITY. 

Governor ..Vm. Irvin. 694 180 

“ .T. G. Phelps. 138 

“ .John Bidwell. 376 

Assembly.J. A. Patterson. 729 277 

“ .C. W. Clark. 452 

Sheriff.M. P. Wells. 263 

“ .B. F. Walker. 175 

“ .J. P. Ormby. 152 

“ .T. A. Stonlenburg .... 55 

“ .J. R. Watson. 78 

“ .E. B. Prater. 130 

“ .G. W. Thompson. 150 

“ .C. Collins. 24 

“ .A. Mills. 22 

“ .J. W. Rice. 164 

District Attorney, J. W. Freeman. 663 157 

“ “ G. V. Smith. 506 

Clei’k.F. W. Craig. 757 337 

“ .J. Oulton. 420 

Treasurer.J. C. Pemberton. 631 165 

“ W. S. Adams. 166 

.D. A. Sinclair. 97 

Assessor.R. R. Donell. 439 112 

“ .W. W. Hudson. 327 

“ .J. McKensie. 274 

“ .J. T. R. Gray. 160 

Surveyor.W. A. Johnson. 610 84 

“ .W. James. 526 

Coroner.H. C. Dimnock. 892 716 

“ P. D. McClamehan. ... 176 

“ .S. M. Meeker. 18 

Supt. of Schools .. L. A. Beardsley. 645 108 

“ “ J. H. Berry. 537 

Supervisor.J. F. Kerr. 269 73 

“ .O. D. Ormsby. 196 

.J. T. Clark. 54 

STATE ELECTION, OCTOBER 20, 1875. 

State Supt. Inst’n, O. P. Fitzgerald. 566 95 

“ “ “ E. S. Carr. 471 

County Judge.... P. T. Colby. 557 241 

“ “ ....R. Wilkinson. 316 

“ “ ... .R. Packard. 139 

GENERAL ELECTION, SEPTEMBER 3, 1879. 

Governor.Ge >. C. Perkin.. 328 

“ .H. J. Glenn. 777 449 

“ .W. S. White. 58 

Superior Judge.. .Theron Reed. 482 

“ “ . . . B. Brundage. 673 191 

Treasurer.G. F. Huniston. 441 

“ .A. P. Bernard. 687 246 


VOTES. MAJORITY 


Clerk.F. W. Craig. 424 

“ .A. T. Lightner. 614 190 

“ .C. E. Jewett. 97 

“ .D. A. Morean. 43 

Auditor.Alvin Fay. 548 

“ .W. P. Wilkes. 624 76 

Sheriff.A. O. Collins. 365 

“ .W. R. Bower. 690 335 

“ .M. P. Wells. 131 

District Attorney, Y. A. Gregg. 359 

“ “ E. E. Calhoun. 357 

“ “ G. V. Smith. 444 87 

Assessor.V. Barker. 407 

“ .F. E. Harding. 639 232 

“ .J. R. Watson. 142 

Surveyor.J. R. Lillebrown. 41 

“ .W. R, Macmurdo. 681 641 

Supt. of Schools. . Mrs. D. B. Rogers. 393 

“ “ . .F. S. Wallace. 527 134 

“ “ . . J. G. Underwood. 12 

Coroner.S. A. Burnap. 629 165 

“ .A. A. Mix. 464 

“ .S. M. Meeker. 17 

“ .... H. S. Backman....... 46 

Supervisor 1st District. Andrew Brown., 70 70 

“ 2d “ S. Davis. 5 

“ “ “ P. Rutledge. 11 6 

“ 3d “ P. O. Hare. 171 115 

“ “ “ P. P. Keefer .... 56 

“ “ “ J. M. Brite. 34 

“ “ “ G. W. Cameron. . 47 

“ “ “ Alex. Williams.. 16 


PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER, 1880. 


President .J. A. Gai field. 463 

“ .W. S. Hancock. 661 198 

Assembly.L. B. Ruggles. 438 

“ .R. E. Arick. 682 244 

GENERAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 7, 1882. 

Governor.M. M. Estee. 425 

.Geo. Stoneman. 871 446 

“ .R. H. McDonold. 22 

Surveyor.M. R. Macmurdo.1283 1283 

Supt. of Schools, A. B. McPherson. 742 184 

“ “ F. S. Wallace. 558 

Coroner.John F. Maio. 709 112 

“ .L. S. Rogers. 597 

Supervisor 1st District, R. H. Evans. 150 36 

“ “ “ D. W. Walser ... 114 

2d “ J. M. McKamy. . 344 ^ 5 

“ “ “ A. Forsyth. 239 

" 3d “ L. Crusoe. 232 35 

“ “ “ P. O. Hare. 197' 


































































































































THE SCHOOLS OF KERN COUNTY. 


225 


Schools of Kern County. 

From A. B. Macpherson, Superintendent of Schools of Kern 
County, we learn that the first school within present limits of 
Kern was taught in 1861 by R. R. Donnell. The present Kern 
County was at that time a part of Tulare County, and of Los 
Angeles. The census children numbered 59. 

The first Superintendent of Kern was appointed (as was all 
its officers) at that time. The first Superintendent elect was 
E. W. Doss. Following are the pioneer teachers of Kern: Rev. 

Mr. Hayes, W. C. Wiggins, Mr. Tabert, Miss Jewett,-Ross, 

Cochran, A. R. Jackson, McCutchen, J. H. Cornwall and A. B. 
Macpherson. First school house was built in Havilah in 1867, 
at a cost of 82,000. The only school property in the county 
at that time. To-day the school property of the county is 
worth 880,000. There are 1,347 census children, 80 per cent, 
of which have attended school. 

There are 31 schools, employing 36 teachers, at an average sal¬ 
ary of 879.00 per month. Following are the names of the vari¬ 
ous Superintendents of Kern since its organization: Dr. Riley, 
appointed; E. W. Ross, elected; J. H. Cornwall, elected two 
terms; L. A. Beardsley, elected two terms; E. E. Calhoun, 
County Auditor, elected one term; T. S. Wallace, elected for 
thi\e years; A. B. Macpherson, present incumbent. 

The following are the names of the school districts: Fair- 
view, Buena Yista, Caliente, Cummings Valley, Fitzgerald, 
Havliah, Kern Island, Ivernville, Lake, Linn’s Valley, Old River, 
Panama, San Emigdio, South Fork, Summit, Sumner,Tehachepi, 
Walker’s Basin, Weldon, WTcker. 

The County Board of Education consists of C. Lindsay, J. 
H. McEwen, A. B. Macpherson, and J. G. Underwood. 


Botanical Article. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF THE COUNTY. 

BY J. W. A. W. 

Several plants peculiar to the Sierra Nevada, at altitudes 
from 4,000 to 13,000 feet, are worthy of record among the 
flora of Tulare County, for their beauty, or their curious 
forms:— 

Clematis Californica. —This pretty species of the Clem¬ 
atis, or Virgin’s Bower, is abundant along the western slopes of 
the Sierra, from altitudes of 4,000 to 6,000 feet. It can be 
readily recognized by its delicate white fringe-like flowers, 
followed bv its long, feathery, white whorled seeds, dangled in 
balls. It is a graceful trailing vine, that climbs over the 
chemissel, chaparral, and other low mountain shrubs. 

Calycanthus Occidentalis —Or the California Sweet 
Shrub—is found along all the mountain streams of the Tulare 
Sierra, in the canons and glades, mingled with other thick 
undergrowth. Its dark purple, many-petaled flowers are 


much larger than in the “Sweet Shrub” of the Northern and 
Southern States, and though their odor is aromatic, it lacks 
the sweet scent of the Eastern species, which is similar to the 
pine-apple, or to strawberries. At altitudes from 3,000 to 5,000 
feet. 

Azalea Occidentalis —Or Rkudodentron occidentale —is 
found in similar localities to the calycanthus. It is one of the 
most beautiful of the azaleas , and has large white tubular 
flowers. * 

Philadelphus Californica. —This beautiful syringa of 
California, with its large white flowers, is said, by Whitney’s 
Botany of California, not to extend south of Merced River, 
just as the same authority limits the range of our calycanthus 
from the lower Sacramento, north; but later explorations show 
that their habitat extends at least as far south as the mount¬ 
ain streams of Tulare County. 

Linum Perenne —Or Wild Flax—is veiy common along 
the streams of Mineral King Flat, from 7,000 to 8,000 feet 
above sea-level,'and fifty-five miles by road east of Visalia. 

Equisetum Arvente —Or Boreale —the common horse¬ 
tail, or scourino rush, is found in moist mountain meadows. 

Fremontia Californica. —This queer shrub, which may 
be correctly called the Hibiscus Tree, from the form of its flow¬ 
ers and leaves, grows in large quantities near the buck-eye and 
mountain mahogany, along the Kaweah, Tule River, Kern, 
and other mountain streams, as well as on their dry slopes. 

Veratrum Californicum —Or False Hellebore—with its 
broad, parallel-veined leaves, and long spikes of many large, 
white, bell-shaped flowers, is adundant on the swampy lands 
of the Mineral King District. 

Smilacina Amplexicaulis —Or the western Solomon’s 
Seal—abounds in the same region. 

Asarum Hartwegi —The Californian Heart Leaf, or 
Wild Ginger—is found in the same locality, and at lower 
altitudes. It is easily known by its large, leathery, heart- 
shaped leaves, strikingly mottled; also by its jug-shaped, pur¬ 
plish flowers, resting on the ground. 

Corylus Rostrata —The Hazelnut, or Filbert of Cali¬ 
fornia—is plentiful along the higher mountain streams, as is 
the Californian wild plum pruntus subcordata, in altitudes 
from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. 

Lililum Parvum —With orange-colored flowers spotted 
with black, is found all along the moist slopes of the Mineral 
King District. 

Castilleia Senantha —And C. Semmoni, two handsome 
species of “painted cups,” are widely distributed in our Sier¬ 
ras. They are conspicuous for their crimson and orange, 
plume-like flowers. 

Castanopsis Chrysophylla— Or the Western Chinquapin 

_as a low shrub, grows in large quantities along the upper 

Kern, in Kern Canon, at altitudes of 10,000 feet. 










226 


CURIOUS AND VALUABLE PLANTS. 


Populus Trichocarpus. —The largei’ poplar, is found near 
the Fish Lakes, in Kern Canon, while populus tremuloides, 
the aspen, or mountain poplar, is very abundant along the 
main Kern and on the slopes of Jenny Lind Canon. 

Dodecatheon Meadia —Or American cowslip—with lilac 
flowers, covers all the mountain meadows, and thrives through 
mid-summer and fall, immediately under the snow-line, as the 
snow-masses melt away. 

B-ryanthus Breweri—A very handsome species of heather, 
beautifies all the high marshy lands on mountain ridges, at 
elevations of 9,000 and 10,000 feet. It is conspicuous for its 
short trailing stems, six to twelve inches high, covered with 
pine-like leaves, and surmounted with small, red, wax-like 
flowers. 

Spired Discolor —Var. dumosa, is a pretty “bridal wreath,” 
growing in high localities. 

Epilobium Obcordatum —This very pretty species of Wil¬ 
low Herb, with its showy flowers of a bright rose-color on 
stems about six inches long, grows at higher altitudes, on both 
the western and eastern divides of the Sierra Nevada, than 
any really attractive flower. It grows in a thick row just 
under the edge of the huge granite bowlders, on Miner’s Peak, 
Mt. Kaweah, and Mt. Whitney. On the latter it abounds 
along the trail on the western slope at the foot of the “Devil’s 
Ladder,” at altitudes between 12,000, and 13,000 feet. 

Primula Suffrutescens is one of the most beautiful of 
the primroses. Blooming in immense quantities in the coarse 
granite sand, immediately along the bases of the granite bowl¬ 
ders, its innocent beauty cheers the weary climber as he makes 
his slow and tortuous way to the top of Miner’s Peak and 
Mt. Kaweah, in altitudes between 11,000 and 12,500 feet. Its 
large flowers are a rich purple. 

Aqltilegia Chrysantha, variety Ccdifornica .—This large 
and very handsome yellow columbine was first discovered in our 
Tulare County mountains, in July, 1880, by J. W. A. Wright, 
who, at the same time, first found in Tulare County, the prim¬ 
rose above described. The first specimens were discovered on 
the western slope of Miner’s Peak, between 11,000 and 12,000 
feet above sea level. Others were afterwards found near Tim¬ 
ber Gap, at heights of 10,000 feet above the sea. Specimens 
of it have also been found near Lake Charlotte, on upper King’s 
River. As no descriptions of it were found in any works on 
the botany of California, he sent specimens of it to Prof. Asa 
Gray, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The plant grows from 
one to two feet high. Both Professor Gray and Professor 
Watson pronounce it a new variety, with not such distinctive 
features as to make it a new species. The nearest approach 
to it they know is the yellow columbine of the southern Rocky 
Mountains (A. chrysantha), hence the name given above. Its 
flowers are very showy, of a delicate sulphur yellow, some¬ 
times lightly dashed with purple on the under "side of the 
outer petals, and on the spurs. The latter are a full inch in 


length. The flower when spread measures more than an inch 
and a half across, and its largest flowers are nearly two inches 
long from the tips of its numerous stamens to the tips of its 
five spurs. These elegant flowers are even more beautiful 
than the red and orange columbines, A. canadensis of the 
Eastern States, and A. trunccita, so common in the Sierra 
Nevada. This new columbine is very similar to a species 
found in the Himalaya Mountains in Asia, A. glauca, which 
grows two feet high, and has pale yellow flowers. 

Gentiana Newberryi. —This is the small white and green 
gentian that blooms on the highest meadows along the upper 
Kern and at the base of Mt. Whitney. A small blue gentian 
is abundant in some localities, species uncertain, but it is per¬ 
haps G. simplex. 

Mimulus Douglasii. —This dwarfish “monkey flower,” 
only a few inches high, grows in such profusion on the high 
sandy table-lands near Loomis Creek, south of Mt. Whitney, 
as to make large purple patches, the color of its flowers, over 
their entire surface, in the month of August. 

Zauschneria Californica. —This is the hardy plant that 
forms rich scarlet patches, with its long tubular regular flow¬ 
ers, like the f uchsias to which it is closely allied, in clefts along 
precipices above the trails. It flourishes at heights of 11,000 
to 12,000 feet, among rocks otherwise barren. 

Sedum Rhodiola, or Stone Crop.—Along ledges of rocks 
in moist places, as in Whitney Canon and Jenny Lind Canon, 
the blood-red leaves and seed-pods of this plant will attract 
the attention of mountain travelers. It is a succulent plant, 
with flesh-like leaves, and is similar to the noted houseleek. 

Protococcus Nivalis. —This minute fucoid plant, that can 
be seen only under a powerful microscope, is the cause of the 
crimson color of the noted “red snow,” which can be found 
every summer in the vast snow-fields, at altitudes of 11,000 
to 12,000 feet, near Mineral, King, and on the extreme head¬ 
waters of Kaweah, King’s, and Kern Rivers. 

To preserve this curious and interesting plant for examina¬ 
tion with the microscope, don’t attempt to keep it in the snow 
water. Get a bucket full of the red snow, when you have the 
good fortune to find it. After melting, let it settle. The red 
snow plant will form a sediment amounting to a tablespoonful. 
Pour oft the water, dry the sediment, and preserve it in a glass 
vial. To examine it, place a few moistened grains of it on the 
object glass of a solar microscope, and this simplest form of a 
plant will appear as a purple globule, like a small round ruby. 

Phoradendron Bolleanum, or Viscum Bolleanum, is 
one of those peculiar vegetable parasites which root on the 
limbs of forest trees, and live by sapping their strength. This 
one may be properly called the “pine mistletoe.” It is found 
on the pines in Tulare and Kern Counties, and partakes of the 
nature of the pine, in its slender form and in the resin that 
exudes from it. 




















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